Meridian High School's Jay Malone races by a pair of Brandon High School defenders on his way to the basket Friday night.

Meridian’s Jay Malone was on a mission.

And he accomplished it.

Behind a stellar second-half performance the No.2-ranked Wildcats edged past top-ranked Brandon 71-63 in a crucial Region 5-6A matchup in front of a packed gym on Friday.

With the win, Meridian avenged its loss last week to the Bulldogs.

The game started off with a small scuffle that saw Meridian’s Miles Miller get ejected.

“When that happened, I told the guys to have composure and needed a leader to step up,” Meridian coach Ron Norman said. “Our guys did a good job responding and played very well all night long.”

After it was basically a free-throw shooting contest in the first half, the Wildcats came out in third quarter on a 17-5 run and ended the quarter up 56-38. Meridian held Brandon to just seven points in the third quarter.

UTEP commit Ledarrius Brewer had 21 points to lead Meridian. 

“We should be No.1, and we just proved it,” Brewer said. “I didn’t play very well in the first, but in the second half shots were falling and we were executing.”

David McCoy and Jay Malone added 14 points for Wildcats (19-2, 4-1 Region 5-6A).

“I’m proud of the way our kids guarded tonight,” Norman said. “Last time, we didn’t switch on screens, and tonight we did and we were able to take their best away from scoring.”

Henry Vo had 20 points to lead Brandon. Quez Williamson added 19 points for the Bulldogs (19-2, 3-1).