Gallery: North Marion defeats Lake Weir

Lake Weir’s Alcarlos Richard (34) swats the ball away from North Marion’s Brenden Barber (13) as he drives to the hoop during a basketball game at Lake Weir High School in Candler, Fla. on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.

The North Marion Colts fended off Lake Weir’s Jordan Gimenez 35-point performance to pick up their first road win of the season in a 62-45 victory on Tuesday night.

Lake Weir gained control early with a 10-3 run in the first four minutes as Gimenez and senior guard Tylique Christie supplied three-pointers. North Marion would bounce back in the latter half of the first quarter as Jerdarrius Jackson, Jermaine Jackson and Brenden Barber all scored points to tie the game at 10 to end the first quarter.

Gimenez came out firing to start the second period with his second three-pointer of the game, but North Marion answered with a six-point run to take a 16-13 lead. Gimenez would tie the game with his third three-pointer of the first half.

North Marion’s Caleb Rollerson (nine points, four rebounds and two steals) sank a layup and a crisp 15-foot jumper from the left side to put North Marion ahead by four before a free-throw battled ensued. Gimenez hit two free throws, followed by Jadarrius Jackson (16 points, four assists and four steals) hitting a pair from the charity stripe and Barber making one of two to extend North Marion’s lead to five.

Lake Weir came back to tie the game with about a minute left in the first half before Rollerson hit a three from the left corner and Jermaine Jackson buried a three from the top of the key as time expired in the second quarter. With those two big shots, North Marion carried a 29-23 lead into halftime.

Jadarrius Jackson picked up his second steal of the game a little over a minute into the third quarter and drained a layup to put North Marion ahead by eight.

North Marion center/power forward Elija Walton (12 points, 12 rebounds) started to get involved in the third quarter after running into foul trouble early in the game. The senior would be the key in period with six points, five rebounds and a steal as North Marion maintained an eight-point lead heading into the final stanza.

“He is a force, we got to feed off his energy. He dunks, runs extremely well and he’s a force in the paint, so we try to use that to our advantage.” North Marion head coach Tim Yarn said.

The momentum continued to lean in the Colts’ favor as Barber grabbed a steal on Lake Weir’s first possession of the fourth quarter and finished with a layup. Walton followed Barber’s great effort by grabbing an offensive rebound off his own miss and putting it back with a huge dunk that sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Lake Weir stayed within striking distance as Gimenez hit a three-pointer and five free throws to keep the deficit at nine. The senior guard added three rebounds and three steals to his scoring efforts.

North Marion sealed the win with a 10-2 run in the final three minutes behind baskets from Jermaine Jackson, Chris Foster, Walton, Jadarrius Jackson and Rollerson. The multi-player offensive attack is an aspect that Yarn is excited about but said he wants to see more aggressiveness as chemistry builds.

“It helps to be able to open up the offense but we’re still a little too passive for me. We will need to attack a little more, but this is only their third game together so the chemistry we will have to build and I think moving forward with the options we have, we are going to do good.” Yarn said.

According to Yarn, the defense and energy were the keys to the win for his team.

“I’m proud of the effort, hats off to Lake Weir. This was their first home game, and they came out with a lot of energy and passion. I was proud of our guys for matching that energy and keeping their composure.” he said.

The record for Lake Weir is not where first-year head coach Freddie Riley wants it to be but said he is seeing improvement as the underclassmen gain experience with three starters out against North Marion.

“The score got away from us in the last few minutes but the guys came out, played hard and competed all night. It was a good test and I saw a lot of good things that show me what we’re capable of. I started three sophomores (Alcarlos Richard, Kevin Shell and John Smith) and I saw more positive than negative.” Riley said.

The star of Lake Weir on Tuesday night was Gimenez, and Riley said he has enjoyed the progression of the senior.

“He’s been phenomenal for us and he’s been doing everything we asked from him as a leader. The younger guys look up to him and he’s a great teammate.”

Lake Weir could possibly get two starters back soon but will have to continue to develop the younger players as the season rolls on.

“They learned a lot tonight, they learned that if you come out and play hard from start to finish, you can compete with anyone.” Riley said.

North Marion will take a couple of days off before they host Forest (6-3) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Lake Weir will be back at home on Thursday at 7 p.m. when they host Dunnellon (2-4).