After dropping two straight to Windermere and undefeated North Marion last weekend, Wekiva needed a response. The Mustangs delivered one Wednesday night against Hagerty (6-3), riding a dominant defensive start and steady scoring from their strong trio to win 61-44 on the road. 

Head coach Gersino Lubin said he was pleased with how his team reestablished its identity. 

“After losing Friday and Saturday, we lost our identity defensively because we gave up a lot of points,” Lubin said. “I thought tonight we made the defense the primary part of what we do, and I think that was the turning point. Yes, we can shoot, we know what we can do offensively, but if we don’t play defense, it almost doesn’t matter.” 

Wekiva controlled the opening eight minutes with suffocating pressure that forced multiple turnovers and limited Hagerty to just four points. The Mustangs turned those mistakes into points on the other end, pushing the pace and knocking down shots in rhythm for a 23-point quarter. Louvens Saint Pierre and Jasen Francillon combined for 17 of those.  

Kaiden Jean-Louis drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key, but as Wekiva’s offense cooled briefly midway through the second quarter, Hagerty’s 6-foot-5 forward Acer Kohn took over. He powered the Huskies back into contention almost singlehandedly, hitting shots from inside and out and scoring 16 of the team’s 20 first-half points.  

Kohn’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer cut what was once a double-digit deficit to 32-24 at halftime and gave the Huskies a burst of momentum heading into the locker room. Kohn finished with a game-high 24 points — more than the rest of his team combined. 

Wekiva quickly snatched the momentum back to start the third. Saint Pierre and Francillon opened the half with mid-range jumpers, and despite a few answers from Hagerty, Wekiva thrived in the chaotic, up-and-down pace the game developed. Loose balls, long rebounds and fast possessions favored the Mustangs, allowing them to extend the margin back to double digits. 

Darion Thomas buried a 3-pointer late in the quarter, then immediately forced a steal that swung the ball to Eric Nichols for another triple at the buzzer. That surge sent Wekiva into the fourth with a 50-34 advantage. 

Both teams struggled to generate clean looks early in the final quarter as longer possessions led to rushed attempts. Hagerty managed four points before a timeout at the 5-minute mark and trimmed the deficit to 11, but Wekiva responded. 

Out of the timeout, Nichols sliced through the lane for a crafty layup. Kenny Diejuste followed with a strong putback to stretch the lead back to 15. Moments later, a defensive steal set up Francillon on the wing, where he drained a dagger 3 with under two minutes left to push the margin to 59-42 and bury any late hope for the Huskies.  

Three players drove the scoring for Wekiva. Francillon led with 18 points, Saint Pierre added 16, and Diejuste battled inside all night for 13. 

Lubin said the focus moving forward is cleaning up the details. 

“I don’t really harp on the offensive part, because the players do that themselves. We just want to work on the little detail stuff,” he said. “They could have had a lot more points because we didn’t box out — we didn’t finish layups. There’s a lot of things we didn’t do that could have put the game in a different situation, like it was on Saturday and Friday. So we can’t have moments like that anymore.” 

The Mustangs finish their three game road trip at 7:30 p.m. Friday night when they take on the West Orange Warriors (1-6).