Meridian’s senior class as freshmen came up with a simple breakdown.

Family on three, Wildcats on six, gold ball on nine.

So, now three years later, mission accomplished.

Behind the stellar play of J.R. Yarbrough, Meridian held on to beat Clinton 54-50 in a classic to claim the MHSAA Boys Class 7A State Championship on Saturday night at the Mississippi Coliseum.

It’s the Wildcats (24-9) fourth state title in school history and first since 2017.

“J.R. got out there and it done. He’s a warrior and gave it all he had,” said Meridian coach Ron Norman. “We through the first punch and kept responding. We’ve been here before and these kids are resilient and we’re going to enjoy this moment.”

Meridian jumped out early as the Wildcats took a 17-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.

After Clinton cut the lead down to 17-14 Meridian responded with an 8-2 run to take a 25-16 lead and eventually held a 29-20 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter Clinton went on a 14-5 run to tie the game 34-34 on a jumper by Trey Alexander with 1:38 left.

The Wildcats responded with the final three points of the quarter to take a slim 37-34 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

With 5:16 remaining in the fourth quarter Clinton’s Shiloh Freeman hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 41-41. The Arrows followed with a Kameron Wilkes lay-up and another Alexander jumper to take a 45-42 lead.

Yarbrough then scored Meridian’s next six points to give the Wildcats a 49-45 lead with 1:38 remaining.

In the final minute and a half Clinton cut the lead down to two points on two different occasions, but Meridian’s Jordan Jones hit a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left to seal the win for Meridian.

“I wanted this so bad for our kids. This is a moment where these kids will remember forever because they are the first 7A state champs and there will never be another first,” Norman said, “When we won the state championship in 2017 it says on the ring ‘Why not us?’ this next one is going to say ‘Why not us’ times two.”

Yarbrough finished with a game-high 25 points to lead Meridian and was named the game’s most valuable player, while D.J. Johnson added 10 points for the Wildcats.

“I came into the game locked in knowing that my team needed it. We have three key factors on this team and the rest we are surrounded with pieces to get the job done with us and we did,” Yarbrough said. “We just didn’t panic throughout the game, and this is a great group. We were the first group to come with seven, eight, nine, gold ball, so it winning this means a lot.”

Alexander had 21 points to lead Clinton, while Kari Hamilton added eight points for the Arrows (23-7).

“We started slow, but we knew eventually we were going to catch them and when we had the lead it just seemed like we couldn’t never hold onto the lead. We would turn the ball over or shots wouldn’t fall,” said Clinton coach Leonard Taylor. “It was just one of those nights where it wasn’t meant to be.”