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Williams’ girls hit the gym for final district run prep

Randy Lefko
Posted 1/12/17

BARTRAM TRAIL – A notable statistic improvement in January of 14 free throws made in 20 attempts in contrast to a disastrous six of 21 in December is what Fleming Island High girls basketball coach …

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Williams’ girls hit the gym for final district run prep


Posted

BARTRAM TRAIL – A notable statistic improvement in January of 14 free throws made in 20 attempts in contrast to a disastrous six of 21 in December is what Fleming Island High girls basketball coach Joey Williams hopes will be the vital statistic this week.

“That was a terrible game; six for 21 at the free throw and 16 of 50 from the field against Creekside in December,” said Williams. “After that game, we woke up and got going from there.”

Against Creekside High, in the lone loss of their season, a 51-41 district match on December 6, Fleming Island could not hit the broad side of the proverbial barn in the key 4-8A matchup that promises to be just as critical on January 11 when Creekside hosts Fleming Island in the final district match of the season prior to the district tournament.

Williams cited the Ragle sisters, Molly and Clare Ragle, as key improving players plus Lizzie Labas coming in to fuel scoring surges.

“I told the whole team before this game (Bartram Trail January 5, a 42-38 win) that you cannot come into this gym at 14-1 and think you can’t work hard to win,” said Williams. “They were not as focused yesterday in practice.”

Against Bartram Trail, Molly Ragle and Tia Robinson led the scoring with 11 points apiece with Ragle fighting for 12 rebounds also.

In the 4-8A lineup, Creekside, 4-0 in district games with that lone win over Fleming Island, holds on tenuously to the district number one seed despite a 13-5 overall record and losses to Middleburg, Paxon, Providence and Nease, all sub-8A class teams.

Fleming Island, on the flip side, has torched all comers since that January day including a 21-point blowout of Middleburg and a 76-45 smashing of Gainesville Buchholz and heads to Creekside with a 16-1 slate still tops in the area.

On Friday, Fleming Island shredded Buchholz 76-45 with five players in double figures scoring led by Aubrey Burke’s 16 points. Guard Malory Sinsel hit three three pointers as part of her 11 with Molly Ragle getting 12, Labas getting 13 and Robinson getting 12.

“When you practice hard and shoot a ton of shots, you gain confidence in games,” said Williams. “It’s pretty simple that you have to do the work in practice to win games.”

Fleming Island must stay focused with a Tuesday date with a much-improved Oakleaf High team sitting at 2-2 in district play with a tough 8-10 overall record. Oakleaf, the defending district 3-7A champions over Bartram Trail, had a good end of December finish before the Christmas break with a 33-30 win over 3-8A Lee High followed by a tough 38-36 loss to an even tougher 5A-Raines team (13-4).

Oakleaf coach Frank Jenkins has had his coaching chores pile up with a team that graduated three college-bound all stars and it has not been an easy season for the wily veteran.

“We have slower and younger people this year,” said Jenkins, after beating Lee with just seven available players.

“We need to find the player that wants to fly all over the floor and chase balls. It’s about desire and that’s where we are not right now.”

Oakleaf is led in scoring by freshman Ma’Ria Davis at 12.1 points per game with junior Andrea Merced, an Oakleaf volleyball ace, adding 11.4 points from her guard position. Junior Jalisa Lee adds 7.5 points per game as Jenkins has had to slow down last year’s fast game plan under Daytona State (9-7) guard Destiny Arvinger, averaging 14 points per game, and all stater Jade Lewis, now at Northwest Florida State College (13-2), where she is hitting for 12.4 points per game. The third graduate of that district winning team was center Baileigh Larson, who is a freshman at College of Charleston (5-9) averaging 2.3 points per game, but has 23 rebounds in 11 games.

Oakleaf beat Keystone Heights and Clay, but lost to Fleming Island in holiday play before losses to Fernandina Beach (18-1) and a hot Middleburg team (15-3) in January.