6A District 4 Tournament Standouts – Frontcourt

<p>With playoff season in full swing, I’m looking back on my games from last week and highlighting some of the standouts from Class 6A District 4’s Championship Tournament at South Lake High School in Groveland, FL. While the city may be small, the basketball was big, both in size of players and competition! This district had some very close games, which I got to see two of! Here were the results: </p> <p><em>Mainland vs. New Smyrna Beach</em>, 60-32 Mainland wins</p> <p><em>Forest vs. Wekiva, </em>41-37 Forest wins</p> <p>Forest went on to beat Mainland, 68-62, to win the District Championship and are still in the state tournament. Here were the biggest standouts in the frontcourt! </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="829386" first="Brenen" last="Lorient"], Forest, 6’8", 2022</strong></p> <p>Lorient is the best recruit to come out of Ocala, and Vanguard, in a LONG time. And he showed it in the surprisingly tight game between Forest and Wekiva. Lorient had 21 of his team’s 41 points in the win, including some clutch play down the stretch, both at the line and in the fast break. Lorient is lanky and can contest and block shots easily. He is an elite athlete, and can dunk from seemingly anywhere near the painted area, including on the break. He had a poster dunk to seal the game in emphatic fashion. He has some issues with being passive on offense, sometimes as a result of fatigue, however, whenever he’s getting involved it is very hard to stop him. He is still working on his jumper, but in these important games he needs to be focusing his attention in the painted area. He’ll be the man for Forest as they progress through the regional tournament in hopes of getting a bid into the Final Four. They’ll have to beat Fletcher and the winner of Lincoln/Columbia to get there, but if Lorient can ball out, they are more than capable. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="829385" first="Elijah" last="Russell"], Forest, 6’8", 2022</strong></p> <p>The Ocala version of the Twin Towers would be incomplete without Russell and his dominance in the paint as well. The high-ranked football recruit is an athlete in the truest sense, he can jump, get boards, and stop offenses with ease. He’s even developed a bit of a jumper, which is a valuable offensive asset for a Forest team who sometimes struggles to put the ball in the basket. He was second on his team with 6 points in the win over Wekiva, but was much more valuable on the defensive end in the close end game. Russell will be a great #2 for Forest as they vie for a state chip this year.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="818854" first="Ty’Rion" last="Denson"], Mainland, 6’7", 2021</strong></p> <p>Denson is large. Very big and strong. This makes him, well, hard to guard. The Mainland team was very hard to guard with him on the floor, since all defensive attention went solely to him. He can hit free throws, which makes him harder to guard since fouling him intentionally is not an option. Denson added 9 points in the win over New Smyrna Beach and will be a player to watch in the post-grad or prep school pool this year. For now though, Denson’s high school career has ended and he will pursue post-graduate options, whether it be college or post-grad ball. </p>