FLEMING ISLAND - Fleming Island High boys basketball coach Traavis Chandler has admitted throughout the season that his schedule is one of the toughest in the state and with purpose to have his boys see what playoff level play is all about.

"We are going to play tough teams as much as we can so when we get into the playoffs, we will know the speed and talent level that will be in front of us," said Chandler, prior to taking on the region team of The Rock program out of Gainesville on a Saturday night contest at Fleming Island High. "We had it a little tougher this week because Jalil Hill is out with a kind of flu and that makes it tough under the basket."

With Hill, a 6 foot 9 inch protector in the paint next to 6 foot 8 inch center Carson Crawford, not available and Chandler needing to tweak his attack a bit to counter the loss of the double towers under the backboard, the Golden Eagles took two losses in two days with Cardinal Gibbons, a Class 3A power at 19-4 and ranked 12th in Florida and fifth in Class 3A, and to The Rock, a 13-5 record, 28th in Florida and third in the Sunshine Independent District. The Rock, out of Gainesville, also has a national team and five state titles dating back to 2013.

Fleming Island, ranked third in Class 5A at 15-6, holds a 14.7 strength of schedule which is second best in 5A with No. 1 Pembroke Pines Charter at 14-4 with an 18.1 SOS and Ponte Vedra at No. 5 at 13-6 with a 14.4 SOS.

Against Cardinal Gibbons, a 3A Final Four finisher that lost to eventual champion Calvary Christian Academy in the state semifinal, Fleming Island had a nine-point lead late in the game, but Gibbons got back into the game and won on a last second 3-pointer.

"We had a lead on them, but they are a championship team and they fourth back," Chandler said. "It wasn't quite a buzzer beater basket, but it was the last shot of the night. With Jalil in there, we win, I think."

Against the Rock, Fleming Island's fourth quarter defense was nearly flawless with a handful of steals, five-second violation possessions and double team jump balls, but the only guy scoring was Crawford.

Crawford single handedly kept the Eagles in the game near the final five minutes with drives to the bucket either creating a 3-point play or at least two free throws as Crawford accounted for 12 points in the final five minutes of the game getting Fleming Island to within a 67-66 score with just 12 seconds on the clock.

Crawford also delivered a Bryce Robinson steal to Ayden Greenidge on a breakaway assist to put the game at 65-64, but a miscommunicated throw-in to Ryan Turner alone in the corner was a 3-point opportunity thrown away as Fleming Island had no 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. The Rock had two threes in the fourth quarter with the Fleming Island defense keeping The Rock at 65 points for nearly the last three minutes of the game. The Rock had two free throws and a jumper at the end of the game as Crawford put on a solo highlight show to get the Eagles to within one point—67-66, with 12 seconds on the clock.

Fleming Island finishes regular season play with St. Augustine (13-6, 18th in 5A) and North Florida Educational Institute (11-11, 16th in 1A) coming to Fleming Island on Jan. 27 and 30.

At Oakleaf, Orange Park (14-7, ranked 33rd in Class 5A) won the second game against the Knights with two wins after a district loss to Fleming Island; a 56-48 win over Oakleaf and a 75-61 win over Global Outreach leading to a Monday showdown with Bishop Kenny (18-3, ranked third in Class 4A).

Raider coach Derek Kurnitsky has been getting big points from newcomer Ty Williams and guard Marcus Bullock both hitting for 20 against Global.
Ridgeview, at 9-12, got a 39-37 win over Clay last week with Matanzas, Old Plank and Stanton left on the schedule.

Oakleaf, 11-10 in district 2-6A, took Bradford County High (15-2, ranked 17th in Class 3A), but with a 3.3 strength of schedule, to a 56-51 loss Saturday night. The Knights finish with Atlantic Coast and Clay.

Middleburg had a tough 57-55 loss to Christ's Church on Jan. 23 and finish with Mandarin, Bartram Trail and Baker County (20-2, 13th in 2A). In Oakleaf's district 2-6A lineup, just Nease, at 16-5, has a better record than Oakleaf with Fletcher, Mandarin and First Coast all with losing season records.