Offense leads Marion past Lakeside
SHERIDAN — Marion’s 18-4 run to close out the first quarter set the Patriots on the right track to beat Lakeside 65-41 in the Class 5A state tournament at Yellowjacket Arena Wednesday.
The Rams (19-8) started the game quickly with a 3-pointer from Jordan Mills followed by baskets in the paint from A.J. Howard and Jamison Craig.
However, the Patriots (237) started to catch fire when Terrion Burgess banked in a trey to give Marion a 14-9 lead. Lakeside head coach Eddie Lamb called a timeout after the 3-pointer, but Jayden Forrest added another trey when the game resumed.
“Man, they shot it well early for one thing,” Lamb said. “Looking at all the games, they don’t generally shoot a lot of 3-pointers. They hit two or three early on us. It wasn’t unexpectedly, but they don’t take a lot of threes normally. They’re really 15-foot guys.”
Lakeside registered back to back turnovers, and Ryan Forrest made the Rams pay with a spin and score to extend Marion’s lead to 19-9. Then, Jalen White forced a turnover before scoring in transition to increase the Patriots’ lead to 12 points.
Taevon Johnson managed to notch two points for Lakeside at the end of the quarter with a quick move to the basket.
After Lakeside started the second quarter with two quick turnovers, Mills gave the Rams some life with another 3-pointer.
Lakeside found it hard to stay with Marion’s shooters in the second quarter, and the Patriots had plenty of open looks.
After Johnson added two free throws for the Rams, Jayden Forrest found himself in acres of space in the left corner. The junior took his time to line up his shot before draining a trey.
Leading 27-6, Kayden Nesbitt drove easily to the basket before Martavious Davis knocked down a wide open shot for a 31-19 lead.
“We were so worried about (Ryan Forrest) and (Jayden Forrest) that sometimes you kind of lose focus on another player or two,” Lamb said. “When those two good ones get it, then they See
cut off of it and got a couple easy ones. We didn’t probably do as the best job we could. We hung in there and tried to do the best job we could on it.”
Marion took a 37-22 lead into halftime, and Donnie Cheers opened the second half with a basket for Marion following a turnover.
Mills continued to affect the game for the Rams and picked up an offensive board before scoring the put back. The senior then forced a turnover before Jamison Craig trimmed the deficit to 13 points.
The teams traded baskets when Ryan Forrest scored a fade away jumper, and Johnson drained a 3-pointer.
Leading 41-29, Cheers pulled down an offensive rebound and scored, extending Marion’s lead to 14 points.
Lakeside struggled to find momentum after the Rams were called for a charge, and the story of the night continued when Jayden Forrest hit a wide open 3-pointer.
Following a Lakeside turnover, a teammate found Cheers in lots of space for an easy basket. Ryan Forrest added two free throws and Lamb called a timeout with 3:15 to go before the fourth quarter.
After the timeout, Braylen Russell sandwiched his way between two defenders to score for the Rams, but Lakeside struggled to build any offensive rhythm.
Ryan Forrest started the fourth quarter with another easy basket, but the Patriots went on to commit three turnovers in quick succession.
Mills took advantage of the giveaways when he hit his third 3-pointer of the game, and Lamb called a timeout with five minutes to play.
Zyon Parnell got the Patriots back on track when he faked out a defender with a pump fake at the rim before scoring easily. Cheers added a fast break basket, and Mills managed to tack on a free throw for the Rams.
Nesbitt scored inside to answer Mills’ free throw and to start an 8-2 run that sealed the game for Marion.
“I thought we competed well early, but those shots went down,” Lamb said. “When you’re down 10 against them, they’re just so physical and 45% of the time they miss they get their own rebound and put it back up. So you really have to hit the boards on them as well. They’re a great offensive rebounding team. In the end, we just couldn’t consistently score enough consistently to stay with them.”
Jayden Forrest led Marion with 21 points to go along with five boards, and Ryan Forrest scored nine points and grabbed three rebounds for the Patriots.
Mills led the Rams with 12 points and six boards, and Johnson registered nine points and two rebounds.
Mills, Johnson, Craig and Alveon Harris all played their last game for Lakeside Wednesday night.
“This senior class has been really good,” Lamb said. “We won 18 games last year, 18 games this year and made the state tournament. I can remember when I took the job five years ago, and they were little eighth graders. I knew we were going to have some good ball teams coming up. They came through for us and won a lot of good games for us. Anytime you tell a senior it’s his last game, it’s always tough. This senior class will be real successful, so we’re real proud of them.”