North Marion coasts by Wildwood, 64-36

North Marion’s Sammie Yeamay (23) looks for a shot on the basket as he is defended by Wildwood’s Jamari Dickens (25) during a game in the Kingdom of the Sun basketball tournament at Vanguard High School in Ocala, Fla. on Monday, Dec. 27, 2021. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2021.

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Posted December 27, 2021 | By Joel Bronson

joel@ocalagazette.com

The first day of play at the Kingdom of the Sun, hosted by Vanguard High School, got off to a hot start for one of Marion County’s top boys’ basketball teams.

North Marion cruised past Wildwood 64-36 in the team’s first round game on Monday evening.

After a nip and tuck first quarter, North Marion went on a 11-3 run to extend the lead to 29-22 at halftime.

Coming out of the break, the Colts took command of the game with am 18-3 run that essentially ended the contest.

North Marion head coach Tim Yarn was pleased with the effort from his squad, especially with some key injuries hampering some players.

“This was a great team win,” Yarn said. “In the third quarter we settled in and played better.”

“A great atmosphere for the Kingdom of the Sun,” he added.

Sophomore forward Sammie Yeanay put up huge numbers on the night for North Marion, scoring a game high 21 points and grabbing a whopping 17 rebounds in the win. Yeanay also dished five assists and blocked five shots for North Marion.

Yarn complimented Yeanay for getting his teammates involved.

“Sammie really did a great job of scoring and setting guys up,” Yarn said.

Senior forward Jeriahmiah Mack added 10 points for North Marion in the victory.

Wildwood junior guard Titus Williams scored 12 points, and junior D’Marion Cooper added five points in the loss.

With the loss, Wildwood will move into the consolation bracket and play the Vanguard/West Port loser Tuesday morning at 11:00 a.m.

North Marion moves on to the winners’ bracket and will play the Vanguard/West Port winner on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.