The Meridian High School boys basketball team showed Tuesday afternoon why they were ranked as the state’s preseason No. 1 team.

The Wildcats scored from all over, whether it was driving to the basket or hitting nine 3-pointers, as MHS overwhelmed Raymond High School in the team’s last game before Thanksgiving. The win makes MHS 5-0 on the season under first-year head coach Ron Norman, and Norman said he’s happy where the team is at this point, though he stressed it must continue to show improvement.

“We have a long way to go, as far as finishing games, but our effort has been there,” Norman said. “Offensively, we’ve shot the ball as well as any team I’ve ever had. I’m just really proud of the way these kids come out and take care of business.”

With the season still young, Norman said there’s still plenty of time for he and his players to get to know one another, but so far the learning period has been a good transition.

“It’s a work in progress, but this is a great group of kids,” Norman said. “These kids have been coached hard and coached well before I got here, so it was an easy adjustment when I got here.”

Senior Ledarrius Brewer, who led his team in scoring with 28 points and hit four of the Wildcats’ nine baskets from beyond the arc, said he and his teammates have adjusted well to Norman’s coaching style thus far.

“I feel like it’s going really well,” Brewer said. “He gets in there, he works with the kids.”

Meridian jumped out to a 29-15 lead after one quarter of play and continued to pull away with a 48-26 advantage at intermission. The Wildcats still led 68-44 heading into the final period, and Norman even had a chance to sub in his bench at the 2:20 mark in the third quarter to give them some valuable playing time — playing time they’ll need as the season goes on, Brewer said.

“They have a lot of work to do, but I feel like they’re getting better with every game they play,” Brewer said. “We’re going to need them down the road, so they’re going to have to keep getting better and contribute where they’re needed.”

Jay Malone was MHS’s second-leading scorer with 17 points, and Ty Brewer finished with 11 points. Miles Miller chipped in with 10 points to round out the Wildcats’ double-digit scorers.

MHS doesn’t play again until Nov. 29 when it travels to Quitman, and Norman said it was good to get a game in the week of Thanksgiving.

“It’s really important,” Norman said. “Most of the time, good tournaments are going on at this time of year, for us to play rather than practice the whole week, it’s a good thing for our team and our program.”

Ledarrius Brewer echoed his coach when he said there’s always room to improve, especially early in the season.

“I feel like we’re doing really well,” Ledarrius Brewer said. “I feel like we could do better as a team, but we had a lot of people out sick, and people missed a lot of days, so we need to get back in the gym and keep working, and I feel like we’ll get better.”

RAYMOND 66, MERIDIAN GIRLS 59

Tymesha Reed led the MHS girls in scoring with 15 points as they dropped the varsity opener Tuesday to Raymond.

Sabrina Boyd added 13 points for the Lady Wildcats, while Jabresha Smith had eight and Taylor Carter tallied seven.