QUITMAN — With a former assistant standing only feet away, there wasn’t much Meridian head coach Ron Norman could do that Quitman head coach Chris Coleman didn’t already know.

And that sentiment rang true in the opening quarter of Tuesday night’s cross-county matchup as the Panthers rode out to a lead after the first frame.

But while the Wildcats and Panthers muscled through each other under the basket, Meridian’s consistently strong defense stayed consistent, and held back Quitman to give itself a 77-60 win.

“It’s just like two brothers going at it,” Norman said. “They know what we’re doing, we know what they’re doing, it’s just a matter of wills, and tonight we imposed our will on them.”

The Panthers used a trio of 3-pointers to gain its first-quarter advantage, including back-to-back threes from Anterio McKines. 

Down 17-15 after one, the Wildcats outscored its opponent 22-11 in the second thanks to eight points from Kyler Yarbrough. Yarbrough finished with 15 points and made three shots from beyond the arc.

Leading 37-28 at halftime, Meridian (5-1) distanced itself from Quitman (3-1) in the third quarter with the help of back-to-back steals and layups from Azerious Ellis to start the frame. Ricky Hinton opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer, and Jaquarris Collins later threw down a dunk to close the game.

The Wildcats outscored the Panthers 44-24 in the second and third quarters to pull away.

“They didn’t allow us to get into any of our offensive flow because they kept us in pressure situations,” Coleman said. “We fell behind, and played catchup with them the rest of the game, and against a team like that, you can’t play from behind.”

Dominique Floyd led Quitman with a game-high 24 points and added five rebounds, and Thurston McCarty had 15. 

Hinton ended with a team-high 17 points for Meridian, Makeem Roberts had 13 and Collins added 10 points and eight boards. 

MERIDIAN GIRLS 64, QUITMAN 33

After leading by as much as 21 points in the second quarter, Meridian led Quitman 34-21 at halftime, then found itself ahead by only 10 after the Lady Panthers’ Iyonna Satcher scored a quick two then drained a 3-pointer.

But the Lady Wildcats responded with an 11-0 run to close out the third quarter and went on to win 64-33 Tuesday night.

Meridian head coach Deneshia Faulkner had to use her bench frequently as foul trouble hit her team.

“We’ve got a lot of good players that just aren’t as experienced,” she said. “So any time we get a chance, we’re going to get them in and get them some experience.”

Arianna Patton led the game with 17 points for Meridian (7-0), and Tymesha Reed added 14 along with five rebounds and six assists. Satcher led Quitman (1-5) with 10 points, and Dacia Bostic added nine points, sevens boards and two blocks.

The Meridian boys and girls teams will travel to Jackson to take on Provine Saturday, while Quitman will play West Lauderdale on the road Dec. 10.