The Wekiva Mustangs walked into West Orange (1-8) and instantly made clear that it would be a long night for the Warriors. Their stifling defense was the motor as nine different Mustangs found steals and forced over 30 turnovers en route to a 69-36 wipeout. 

“The defense had to lead us tonight, and it did,” head coach Gersino Lubin said. “When a game is lopsided like this, I try to really have them not focus on the scoreboard, but work on the detailed stuff. That’s what’s going to help us against better teams.” 

The Mustangs set the tone early with relentless defensive pressure, forcing rushed shots and turnovers while Jasen Francillon ignited the offense. Francillon scored six of the team’s first eight points, converting an and-one before knocking down a 3. Moments later, Eric Nichols stared down his defender and drilled a deep 3 that forced a West Orange timeout with 1:40 left in the first quarter. By then, Wekiva was already in full control. 

Even when the bench unit checked in, the energy never dipped. The Mustangs closed the quarter on a 15-0 run, holding West Orange scoreless through the first eight minutes. 

Wekiva continued to attack the paint to open the second quarter. Kaiden Jean-Louis muscled his way to four points through contact, and Ameer Garland used his size to float in a soft teardropper. West Orange finally got on the board with a pair of 3-pointers, but the Mustangs quickly regained momentum when some starters returned midway through the quarter with a 23-6 lead. 

Francillon buried a mid-range jumper, then helped Kenny Dieujuste force a turnover at midcourt. Nichols capped the half by burying back-to-back 3s in the final minute, pushing Wekiva’s lead to 31-11 at the break. Nichols had as many points (11) as West Orange at halftime, while Francillon added eight. 

The third quarter opened with a statement. Dieujuste soared for a sky-high slam to ignite the team, and moments later a Nichols steal led to Louvens Saint-Pierre finishing through contact for a three-point play. Wekiva’s defense continued to dictate everything, forcing a backcourt violation and turning it into points. 

After West Orange scored inside, the Mustangs twice broke the press in identical fashion — first Saint Pierre sliced a pass through the defense to Markel Anderson for a layup, then Nichols delivered the same look. Nichols wasn’t done, forcing his way through traffic for a tough reverse layup with under two minutes left. 

Out of a Warrior timeout, Wekiva kept trapping and jumping passing lanes. After a steal, Darion Thomas fired an outlet ahead to Nichols for another score. Although West Orange hit a 3 at the buzzer, the Mustangs still entered the fourth quarter comfortably ahead, 50-25. 

West Orange opened the final period with consecutive 3s, but Wekiva answered immediately. Jean-Louis found Garland for an alley-oop to restore order, and the Mustangs never let the momentum swing back. Dieujuste took over late, intercepting a pass before knocking down a corner mid-range jumper, then cleaning up his own miss with a putback. 

He continued to impose his will, hitting a floater for his 10th point of the quarter and hauling in multiple offensive rebounds in the final minutes. Wekiva closed out the night with a convincing 69-36 win. 

Nichols led the Mustangs with 19 points and three rebounds. Dieujuste finished with 14 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals, while Jean-Louis provided a spark off the bench with six points, four rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Thomas led the defense with three steals as Wekiva overwhelmed West Orange from start to finish. 

Lubin emphasized that staying sharp is the key to moving forward. 

“My thing to them has been, complacency is the killer of all success,” he said. “Once you get complacent, you can’t grow and can’t be successful. Stay hungry. Stay doing the little things that are going to make an impact.” 

Wekiva scraped out a 41-39 win against Lake Mary on Tuesday night before their cross-town clash with Apopka on Thursday, which occurred after press time.