Forest squeaks past North Marion
Wildcats top Colts in regular season finale.
Forest guard Tico Smith (0) brings the ball up the court as North Marion’s Toure James defends during Friday night’s game. [Photo by Mark Pinson]
In a game between two of the best teams in Marion County, it was Forest that came away with a 54-50 win over North Marion on Friday night.
The victory in a very physical game, which was the final regular season finale for both squads, improved the Class 6A Wildcats to an impressive 20-4 on the season and avenged an early-season loss to the Colts.
“It’s always a battle, whether it’s Forest and North Marion or Forest and Vanguard,” said Forest coach Mike Hoffman. “It turned into an all-out battle and our guys stepped up to the challenge and competed. We’re a much different team than we were in the first month of the season and that’s the sign of a good group. This is the best winning percentage since 2009 and I’m really proud of this team to be able to put up 20 wins after the graduations and kids that left. A lot of people doubted us and didn’t think we were going to be any good, but here we are, and I love it for these guys.”
North Marion, which dropped to 16-7 overall, battled back from an 11-point halftime deficit to tie the game in the fourth quarter, only to come up short in the closing minutes against the Wildcats. Colts coach Tim Yarn bemoaned the foul disparity in the close loss.
“Forest had no fouls in the second quarter and the fourth quarter and that’s tough to deal with in a physical, hard-fought, defensive game,” the North Marion coach said. “They only had six fouls the whole game and that made for a large disparity that was hard to overcome on the road against a quality opponent.”
North Marion’s Lamont Sweeting Jr. scores over Forest’s Isaac Timmons during Friday night’s game. [Photo by Mark Pinson]
Forest extended its lead as junior guard Chandler Davison splashed back-to-back 3-pointers, Sean Curry chipped in with four points and Timmons had two baskets in the paint to give the Wildcats a 29-18 lead at the half.
North Marion found its shooting touch in the third quarter as Jerdarrius Jackson, who finished with a game-high 18 points, scored eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers and Toure James added four points to pull the Class 4A Colts within two points heading to the final eight minutes.
The teams traded baskets until Sweeting powered his way for a layup to tie the score at 47 with under three minutes left in the game.
Forest answered as Curry scored on a putback and Tico Smith made one of two free throws to give the Wildcats a 50-47 lead with 34.8 seconds remaining to play.
North Marion had a couple of good looks at the basket but couldn’t get a shot to fall. Forest came down with the rebound and a full-court pass to a wide-open Timmons led to a layup that sealed the victory.
North Marion will regroup and get ready for the Class 4A-District 5 tournament. The Colts, as the No. 1 seed, get a first-round bye and will play a home game on Wednesday night against the winner of Eastside and Dunnellon. A win sends the Colts into the championship game on Feb. 7.
“The regular season is just practice for the post-season,” coach Yarn said. “Come Monday we’re going to get back in the gym, get to work and try and prepare to win a district championship.”
Forest, the No. 2 seed, begins play in the Class 6A-District 3 tournament on Wednesday. The Wildcats play third-seeded Gainesville Buchholz.
“The record doesn’t matter once the post-season begins,” coach Hoffman said. “Everyone is 0-0 and we’ve got to find a way to win on Wednesday night.”
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