FLEMING ISLAND - With a hard pace driving their attacks in their two opening games, the Fleming Island High basketball team defeated Gainesville High 63-43 in the championship game of the Battle on the Island Christmas Tournament as three days of intense hoops play concludes on Saturday at Fleming Island High.

"It's all good, everyone is battling hard here," said Fleming Island coach Traavis Chandler, who saw wins over Ribault and Columbia for his Golden Eagles. "Carson Crawford is having a fantastic tournament."

Crawford, who blasted region playoff Auburndale for 19 points, five rebounds and one three-pointer, has been on fire on the floor with Fleming Island getting wins of 65-50 over Auburndale, 74-58 over Columbia, and, not in tournament play, a 75-61-win over Ribault, to end regular season play in 2025.

"We came out kind of slow in the first half and coach told us to turn up the volume," said Crawford, who finished with 26 points and had a massive dunk in the third quarter to ignite the Golden Eagle's firepower through the rest of the game. "We have to find a way to be more aggressive in the first half of our games against top teams so we don't have to change gears in the second half. We need to be more consistent from the start.'

Against Columbia, Crawford pumped in 24 points with two three-pointers from the versatile 6-foot-6 power player while adding four steals and two assists along the way. Bryce Robinson added 12 against Columbia and 13 against Auburndale with three three-pointers.

Gainesville got to the final with the Hurricanes defeating Ribault 60-44 to get to the championship game. The Hurricanes beat Westminster Christian 54-41 in their tournament opener and Atkinson of Georgia 72-31 to advance.

Fleming Island is now 7-3 with Gainesville at 4-6. Gainesville was 21-8 last year beating Columbia in the region quarterfinals, then losing to Ponte Vedra in the region semifinals. Fleming Island beat Lincoln in regions last year, then lost to Leon in the 5A semifinals.

Columbia and Westminster played in the third-place game.

In the girls bracket, Ribault defeated Fleming Island to advance to that final against Bolles, who beat Rickards. Rickards defeated Ridgeview to advance. Fleming Island and Rickards will play for third place.

In the Green bracket, Middleburg opened with a 51-49-win over Wolfson but lost 56-44 to 3A region finisher Discovery High out of Lake Alfred to play in the third-place game.

Middleburg got big play from Dominic Swilley against Discovery. Middleburg will play Branford for third place. 

Down in Mount Dora's Christmas tournament, Orange Park guard Marcus Bullock scored 23 points with five assists and five steals to lead the Raiders to a 64-38-win over West Orange. The Raiders go to 8-2 for the season with a Saturday game against Mount Dora Christian, also 8-2 for the season.