Forest v. Paxon Game Notebook (1/17/21)

<p>Paxon (10-4) and Forest (10-2) are two of Central Florida’s hottest team this year, and their matchup was the perfect way to end the MLK Day Tournament at Forest High School in Ocala, FL. This elite matchup pitted the two double-digit win programs against each other. Paxon, only a year off of an incredible season headlined by UCF star [player_tooltip player_id="552600" first="Isaiah" last="Adams"], is trying hard to stay relevant in the Jacksonville hoops scene, and is having no trouble doing so led by [player_tooltip player_id="1068619" first="Ja’Kobe" last="Williams"] and [player_tooltip player_id="818735" first="Quinnton" last="Jackson"]. Forest is moving into their most dominant season in years, winning game after game against competition that isn’t just limited to Marion County teams. Led by juniors Elijah Russel and [player_tooltip player_id="829386" first="Brenen" last="Lorient"], the Wildcats are hoping to make their deepest run in decades this season.</p> <p>The opening of this game immediately showed how the rest of the game would pan out. The defensive end of the ball was the focus for both of these teams right from the jump. Paxon, running a complex and high-energy zone was able to force Forest into jump shots, one of the weaker spots for their starting lineup. However, the Golden Eagles weren’t set to dominate on the offensive side of things. Paxon was outmatched in terms of size, and couldn’t seem to get downhill far enough to score on bigs Elijah Russel and [player_tooltip player_id="829386" first="Brenen" last="Lorient"]. The first quarter was a low-scoring stalemate, tied up at 8-8.</p> <p>The second quarter was a bit more exciting on the offensive end, but mostly tipped in favor of Paxon. 5 Eagles scored in the second quarter, leading to a 4-point advantage for Paxon going into the half. The Wildcats struggled to score the ball on a stingy Paxon defense, until [player_tooltip player_id="829386" first="Brenen" last="Lorient"] decided to show exploit the very obvious height difference between the two teams. Lorient scored 5 of Forest’s 7 second quarter points, including expanding his range to knock down a 3-pointer. The Wildcats trailed 19-15 at the half, led by [player_tooltip player_id="829386" first="Brenen" last="Lorient"]’s 9 points. Camden Tyner led Paxon with 6 points.</p> <p>To open the half, the Eagles and Wildcats both couldn’t get much going on the offensive ends. Paxon was able to strip the Wildcats’ big men of easy post buckets, and the Forest offense forced Paxon to shoot the basketball, something they struggled to do. Then, enter [player_tooltip player_id="1068631" first="Daniel" last="Watson"]. The senior guard hit 3 straight triples to fire up the Eagles and give them a bigger lead going into the last frame.</p> <p>The fourth quarter was the Wildcats’ time to shine. [player_tooltip player_id="829386" first="Brenen" last="Lorient"] traded his dribble pullups for good old fashioned bully ball, scoring 8 points all exclusively in the paint. However, the comeback wasn’t enough to stop the Eagles. Guard [player_tooltip player_id="818735" first="Quinnton" last="Jackson"] went 5/5 from the free throw line to close the game out, securing a Paxon win and giving the Eagles their 11th win of the season, 45-41. [player_tooltip player_id="829386" first="Brenen" last="Lorient"] led the Wildcats with 19 points, and Q Jackson led the Eagles with 12 points. The Wildcats drop to 10-3 and the Eagles improve to 11-4.</p>