Gallery: Dunnellon avenges season-opening loss to Lake Weir with overtime win

Dunnellon’s Jada Hayes (20) steals the ball from Lake Weir’s Reniya Ford (1) during a basketball game at Lake Weir High School in Candler, Fla. on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. Dunnellon won the game 75-68 in overtime. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.

The Dunnellon Tigers (4-4) girls basketball team edged out the Lake Weir Hurricanes in a back-and-forth battle that went to overtime on Thursday night.
Lake Weir took control in the opening minutes as Tatum Lake and Morgan Cummings both scorched the net with three-pointers to give their team an 8-0 lead after two minutes. Dunnellon would answer back as Tatiana Matthews scored eight points and nabbed two steals to pull her team within two.
By the end of the first quarter, the game was tied at 12 with Matthews scoring 10 points in the opening period. Lake Weir started the second quarter with a bucket as Mia Poper made a textbook bounce pass to Sa’Naria Gunsby.
The remainder of the second quarter was an offensive shootout with the two teams combining for 30 points in the final six minutes before the half. Matthews, K’Mari Williams (12 points, seven rebounds, three steals), Paige Powell (10 points and 10 rebounds), Nia Heppner and Jada Hayes all scored points for Dunnellon in the second quarter to give Dunnellon a 29-27 lead at halftime. Lake Weir also used a committee of scorers as Gunsby (11 points, 7 rebounds), Lake, Cummings, Reniya Ford (11 points, six steals and four rebounds) and Erilynn Beltre came up with points.
“We were in our game in the beginning, and we were playing team ball.” Beltre said.
Dunnellon started the third quarter with points from Matthews and Powell to extend their lead to six. Lake Weir would follow with their best offensive stretch of the game as they went on a 15-2 run in the first five minutes of the third quarter.
Contributions came from every direction as Ford, Gunsby, Lake and Shanice Brown all played a role in the run that gave Lake Weir a seven-point lead. As was the case all game, Matthews and Dunnellon answered as the junior guard scored the game’s next seven points to tie the game with a minute left in the third quarter.
Lake Weir carried a two-point lead into the fourth quarter but Dunnellon took the lead on baskets from Matthews and Williams. It appeared Lake Weir was headed for the driver’s seat when Williams missed two critical free throws with just under four minutes left in the game but Dunnellon got the ball back and Matthews hit a free throw and a layup to tie the game again.
Following Matthew’s run, Lake Weir answered with five consecutive points from Beltre to take a two-possession lead. On the ensuing possession for Dunnellon, Brown fouled out of the game with 1:26 to go, which ended up being a big loss in the closing moments for Lake Weir.
“It hurt us a lot because she is our defensive glue. She talks and she is active in getting rebounds and that hurt a lot.” Lake Weir head coach Briana Smith said. The senior power forward/center finished with four points, two steals and a team-high 13 rebounds.
Matthews made both free throws to bring Dunnellon within three and came up with a rebound and another basket before Lake nailed a three-pointer from the left side to give Lake Weir a four-point lead with 30 seconds left in the game. Lake led Lake Weir with 15 points and notched three steals defense.
Once again, all hope seemed lost for Dunnellon as Williams missed a free throw but Powell came down with the rebound and found an open Matthews for an easy two points. Still trailing by two with 10.8 seconds left, Dunnellon needed to make a play on defense and did so when Heppner stole the inbound pass at center court and passed it to a wide open Matthews for a layup to tie the game with two seconds left.
Being down four with less than twenty seconds left would of sent most teams packing but Dunnellon kept fighting and head coach Chris Thompson was ecstatic with his team’s determination and perseverance.
“We drew up a play to hopefully get it and I told my team whichever team has more heart is going to take it. They wanted it and had already beat us once at our home so we had to take it from them tonight, we drew something up and it worked.” Thompson said.
The first minute of the overtime period looked like the previous four quarters of back-and-forth as Dunnellon got a basket from Powell and Lake sank her fourth three-pointer of the night to give Lake Weir a one-point lead.
For the remaining three minutes of the extra period, Dunnellon was in control as they went on a 7-2 run to win by a score of 75-68.
Matthews had a historic night for Dunnellon with 48 points and was a menace on defense with five steals. She also scored the game-tying basket to force overtime and was the driving offensive force Dunnellon needed when they would fall behind by six or seven points.
Despite the fantastic individual night, Matthew’s efforts as a leader in the huddle may have been more impactful.
“I told my team we we’re going to go out there and play basketball how we know how to play. The score doesn’t matter, its all about the effort on the court.” Matthews said.
She added: “I’m excited that the team was able to play their hearts out, leave it all on the floor and bring it all together at the end.”
On the other side of the coin, Lake Weir’s Beltre (nine points, three rebounds and three steals) spoke like a seasoned veteran when asked about what her and the team can learn from the loss.
“We got in our own heads too much tonight. I feel like tonight taught us that we need to focus on our goals of make our baskets, play team ball, if your shot doesn’t fall in then get back on defense and get the ball back.” Beltre said.
Coach Smith echoed that sentiment and feels that the loss will give her team motivation moving forward.
“That’s exactly what we talked about in the locker room (after the game), using this motivation and frustration from the end of the game to fuel how you play in the next game and games beyond that. Losing sucks but the learning experience you get from it is invaluable.” Smith said.
Dunnellon improves to 5-4 on the season, their next game is at Umatilla (5-1) on Monday at 6 p.m. Lake Weir slides to 6-2 on the season and will travel to Lecanto on Monday at 7:30 p.m.