FLEMING ISLAND - Both Orange Park and Fleming Island high school boys basketball has had its ups and downs this season. Big wins and even bigger losses were characterized by second half finishes that created drama as the two district 3-5A teams—10-6 for the Raiders and 13-6 for the Golden Eagles—will have a game or two to shiny up their attacks.

Note: Fleming Island, a region semifinal finisher last year, is ranked third in Class 5A with the Raiders ranked 31st with the Golden Eagles strength of schedule a tough 13.8 while Orange Park is at 5.4.

"Their guy Carson is the real deal," said Orange Park coach Derek Kurnitsky, referring to Fleming Island 6-foot-9-inch attack master Carson Crawford, who put on a dunking highlight reel last Friday night in a 84-46 win over Clay, then followed up with his Golden Eagles' blasting away for a 78-58 win over Boca Ciega (11-8, fourth in Class 4A, region semis last year) at the Bernard Wilkes Invite at Ribault High's new gymnasium. "We have to find a way to slow him down and get the other guy, Hill (6-foot-9-inch forward Jalil Hill) from controlling the paint. Those are two tough dudes to defend on one court."

For the Raiders' top gun, Josiah Bell, a 6-foot-5-inch senior, the addition of a newly transferred Oklahoma player, Ty'Quavious Williams, a 6-foot-4-inch forward, may have been a blessing in time for the Raiders with Williams showing great talent in threes, rebounding and tough play in the Raiders' recent 60-55 loss to St. Augustine (10-3, eighth in Class 5A) with Wiliams netting 19 points and Bell punching in 13.

"We haven't had him on the court because he was just getting here and we had to get his paperwork in order," Kurnitsky said. "He came from Orange Park Junior then left to Oklahoma then came back."

With Williams showing good strength against the equally stacked St. Augustine lineup, Kurnitsky's optimism for the Fleming Island clash is worth a watch.

"Their two guys are good, and we haven't had a good spat of shooting lately but if we can hit some threes, it could be interesting," Kurnitsky said.

Fleming Island, with their historically rugged schedule, struggled at times with second half lulls with back-to-back losses in Ocala's Kingdom of the Sun tournament against Kentucky's Lexington Christian Academy and Sarasota High, the Eagles looked revved with five wins in the last six games.

"That's on me as coach to keep fresh legs on the court because we don't want to have to chase teams that get five, 10 points on us," said Fleming Island coach Traavis Chandler, who has been somewhat quelled on the sideline with an ailing back and neck injury limiting his sideline presence while assistant coach Yakeem Griner commands the Golden Eagle bench. "Yakeem has been with me a long time; 10 years, and he knows how I think and react. He's doing a good job and I'll soon be up in the playoffs to see if I can contribute. It's tough to sit, but I think the team knows I'm there."

The lone loss in the stretch was a 73-53 shocker to Impact Christian Academy, a 17-2 season record with a eighth rank in all of Florida and a top ranking in Class 1A. Impact's two losses were to Providence (15-3, No. 1 in Class 2A) on Dec. 5 and Second Baptist of Houston, Texas (20-2, 13th in Texas, No. 1 in Texas 5A, 5A champions last year) on Dec. 31.

"When you face a team with that talent, that athleticism, you use it as a learning situation," Chandler said. "That's the level we have to play come playoff time. It's tough to lose like that with all the close games we've had against top-ranked teams, but we make adjustments and move on."

With Crawford leading the Golden Eagles with near 20 points per game, Fleming Island displays a shared attack for the number two scorer behind guard Bryce Robinson, Hill, Ayden Greenidge and Ryan Turner.

"Ryan, I think, will be the X factor for the remaining season," Chandler said. "He's as athletic as any player out there and him and Ayden Greenidge are similar, but they have to take a lead role in delivering the ball and taking shots."

In the Boca Ciega win, Fleming Island had quarters of 27-13, 13-12, 23-15 and 15-18 with Chandler perplexed by the inconsistency.

"We have to get more action from our bench to give the top guys a break and not lose momentum," Chandler said. "One thing that may help in playoffs is the return of Nate Lowery, our 3-pointer guy, who had a broken left wrist early in the season. We get him on point and that's a big plus."

Fleming Island, with two wins last week to Clay and Boca Ciega, had University Christian (8-6, ranked 13th in 2A with 12.9 strength of schedule and a Final Four finisher last year) on the road on Tuesday, Jan. 13 before the Orange Park visit with the Raiders having West Nassau (2-13) and Clay (5-11) on the road before traveling to Fleming Island.

Also in the district 3-5A lineup, Middleburg (7-10) and Ridgeview are on the bubble in the standings with both recently having solid games against 6A Oakleaf. Middleburg lost a tough 51-50 game to Oakleaf last Friday while Ridgeview lost 69-56 game on Thursday, Jan. 8 with the Panthers (6-9) getting to within two points in the third period.

Ridgeview defeated Middleburg 45-40 on Dec. 2 with Oakleaf getting Middleburg a second time on Jan. 16 and Ridgeview on Jan. 20. Clay is at 5-11 with spats of a strong three-point shooting from Ayden Blackwood and strong drives from Emarriyen Brown throughout the season making the Blue Devils a dangerous team in tight games.

Oakleaf, at 8-8 and who has been busy with a long Christmas break tournament schedule in DeLand and Alachua, has Orange Park on Jan. 22 with a 10-1 Bradford County team on the road on Jan. 24. St. Johns Country Day School, at 3-10, has four games remaining with their two top scorers—Kaden Rocco and Gabriel Blaubuks—both near 25 points per game.