LAKELAND – Fleming Island High’s girls basketball team held a short-lived 17-16 lead off a three-pointer by senior guard Malory Sinsel just before halftime of their Class 8A semifinal game against six-time state champion South Broward High, but the Lakeland Civic Center baskets were not kind to the Golden Eagles who lost 50-35 to end the school’s best ever finish Saturday afternoon. South Broward continued into the final, but lost 72-65 to Winter Haven.

“I’m thinking our girls read to much into that six-time champion stuff and that they beat Ribault as well,” said Fleming Island coach Joey Williams, who finishes at 28-3. “We played with them in the first half, but I think our youth showed in the second half. We made some mistakes we don’t normally do. Both teams did not shoot very well. We just shot a little worse than they did.”

Fleming Island shot just 22 percent off 11 of 49 field goals while South Broward shot 36 percent off 22 of 61 shots. South Broward hit 41 percent in the second half while Fleming Island stayed near 22 percent to pull away

Fleming Island strategy from the start was to try and slow down the inside game of South Broward where 5-foot-10 forward Alexis McClain lurked against the Golden Eagles’ duo of sophomore Aubrey Burke and freshman Rayna Durden, both near just 5-foot-8. McClain hit for 11 points while teammate Shante Walker, a 6-footer, controlled the glass with 11 rebounds.

“We are so young and this whole experience is such a big thing,” said Williams. “I wanted the girls to stay for the final; win or lose, just to experience the whole thing.”

From the outset, Fleming Island coach Joey Williams, minus three key players due to injury, was going to try and control the tempo and try to set up his outside shooters; Sinsel, Tia Robinson and Lizzie Labas, but South Broward guard Natalia Leaks, who finished with a game-high 20 points, and teammate Tianna Ayulo, who hit for eight points, hit breakaway layups to surge the score to a quick 7-2 advantage. Burke scored the first basket on a nifty under-the-basket reverse layup in the face of three Bulldog defenders, but from there the taller Walker dialed in her defense in the paint to keep Fleming Island shooting outside from at least 8-10 feet from the basket.

“Aubrey has been our hot hand through the regions,” said Williams. “Her and Rayna played tough, but those big players were very athletic. They were as big a team as we’ve ever played.”

South Broward’s stifling inside defense turned into Fleming Island turnovers to the first quarter break and a 13-9 Bulldog lead.

“I think the girls got banged up in the middle and it took its toll,” said Williams.

On the bench, Williams implored his players to relax and not get caught up in the running game and Robinson, who injured an ankle in the first half, answered with a three-pointer on her first shot of the quarter to pull the Golden Eagles to one point and send a jolt to the rest of the lineup.

Burke would hit a layup in the face of Walker to put Fleming Island up 14-13 with 5:59 to the half and a sense of anxiety coming from the Bulldog bench as Fleming Island’s scrappiness against the much bigger South Broward lineup seemed to be denting the attack.

Leaks and Sinsel exchanged three-pointers on the next go down the court and the game was looking to become a shooter’s showdown instead of an inside game bruising.

A foul called on a rebound scramble with Fleming Island’s Hope Rozier seemed to jolt the Golden Eagles’ psyche and South Broward took advantage of the mental lapse with a 6-1 scoring run; Robinson with a lone free throw the only score, ending the half with the Bulldogs up 22-18.

In the third quarter, South Broward’s attack out of the locker room was more energized than Fleming Island’s and the Bulldogs powered to another 6-2 run to put some room on the scoreboard. A Labas jumper held the score at 28-20 before Walker hit a soft three-pointer with 4:44 left in the quarter.

Sinsel again answered with a timely three-pointer to score the game 31-26 and offer a reachable deficit if the Golden Eagle shooters got hot, but layups to Walker and Leaks against surged South Broward to a 39-28 lead as the third quarter ended.

“My shoulder (torn labrum) was bothering me because it altered my shot,” said Sinsel. “Coach said to keep shooting to try and get a rhythm.”

In the fourth quarter, South Broward poured on the power with Fleming Island caught in the frenzy of a comeback attempt and a man-to-man pressure defense from the Bulldogs. Fleming Island scored just one point until the final 1:25 before Sinsel hit two consecutive three-pointers to finish the scoring at 50-35. Sinsel’s five three-pointers for 15 points led the Golden Eagle scoring who had no other scorers with double figures; Robinson with eight points, Burke with just six points.