JACKSONVILLE - Fleming Island sophomore center Carson Crawford was all over the basketball court in Saturday's Fortegra Invitational championship game with 30 points, 16 rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocked shots, but it was three-pointers; from Kameron Baskin, from sophomore Joseph Johnson and one from senior Luke Frisbee, that ignited an explosive third quarter for the Golden Eagles to stave off a furious Andrew Jackson fourth-quarter surge and win a 55-54 game at Florida State College Jacksonville South. Jackson was previously unbeaten at 8-0 with the Golden Eagles at 7-1 before the tournament; now both at 8-1.
"We knew this would be a dogfight matching our stamina against their stamina," said Fleming Island coach Traavis Chandler. "We told them at halftime to stay the course, be resilient, and get me a 10-point surge. Then we could hold them off in the fourth because they were not going to slow down."
With Chandler's strategy nearly flawless as Jackson's speed behind guards Terrell Mosely and Jahari Simmons kept the Golden Eagles on their heels trying to capture the Tigers with double and triple teams at midcourts proving mostly ineffective.
"They were moving the ball quickly upcourt against our press and we had to adjust," said Chandler, who saw his Eagles fall behind 17-11 in the first quarter and then 27-22 at the half as both teams were vigorous on defense. "We told them to just relax, we'd figure out the press, then get some shots from the three-point line."
In the second quarter, Chandler tried to get his much slower control offense moving with Bryce Robinson and Ayden Greenidge challenging the Jackson press.
Fleming Island had just one three-pointer in the first half from Nate Lowery. Fleming Island closed to 25-22 with Crawford hitting a rebound and layup but two foul shots from Mosely finishing the first half scoring.
In the third period, Fleming Island put their foot on the gas pedal looking to challenge the Jackson speed and slow down their attack.
"We told them to get their breath, recompose and be ready to run," said Chandler. "We also wanted them to try for a few quick three-pointers."
Jackson opened with two more free throws to 29-22 with Crawford fumbling a pass before Kameron Baskin canned a three-pointer to 29-25.
Crawford came back after a blocked shot on a finger roll to capture the deflection and put in his second shot on the series to 31-27.
After a scramble on the floor gave Jackson two more free throws to 33-27 from forward David Wilson.
Crawford went to the free throw line on a smash down in the paint to sink two points to 33-29 at 5:08 in the third with Greenidge hitting a jumper to 33-31 and Crawford tying on a finger roll to 33-33.
Crawford was fouled on a scramble on the inbounds and got two more free throws; both good, to put Fleming Island up 35-33 at 4:02 in the third.
"We were putting big pressure on them at the baseline rather than wait for them to get to half court," said Crawford. " We were making them throw bad in-bound passes."
At 35-34 after a Jackson free throw, Frisbee misses on a jumper, then gets a second chance at the three-point line and cans his first three-pointer to put Fleming Island up 38-34 with 2:31 left in the third.
"That shot was a momentum changer," said Crawford. "I knew if we kept pressing, we would get one or two of them when we needed them. We never let up."
Jackson got a three-point play on a layup and foul from guard Tay'vion Lawson to 38-37 with Fleming Island running a set play to set up a three by Johnson to 41-37 at 1:20 in the third.
A Crawford fade-away jumper got the score to 43-37 in the Golden Eagle rally with free throws ending the third at 44-38.
"Coach told us to beat them by 10 points in the third," said Crawford.
In the first half of the fourth, at 51-48 with 3:46 to go both teams at five team fouls and both teams seemed like weary boxers slowly waiting for the other to blink before throwing haymakers.
In the final frenzy, with Fleming Island trying to keep the clock clicking, loose balls and fumbles had both teams scurrying to the floor to gain control before Lawson nearly decapitated Robinson on a drive; Robinson missing both freebies.
Jackson got as close as 51-50 at 1:46 on a scramble under the boards to force a Fleming Island timeout.
Fleming Island guard Diego Rivera got trapped on a double team at half-court and gave Jackson a reverse layup from Wilson to put Jackson up 52-51 at 1:24.
Crawford got a layup off a feed from Baskin to give the Golden Eagles the lead 53-52 with 55 seconds left.
"We got that 22-point third quarter to get back into the game," said Chandler. "This team is very resilient."
A non-shooting foul on Crawford gave Jackson an inbounds attempt under their own basket before the pass was fumbled out of bounds by Lawson in front of the Jackson bench and coach Byron Shemwell to give the ball back to Fleming Island with 36 seconds left in the game.
After a toweling off of the floor from bodies being strewn about on the last exchange, Fleming Island would take over under the Jackson basket with 4.9 seconds on the clock now up 55-54 off a Crawford almost-dunk.
One final inbounds from Fleming Island was untouched giving Jackson one final throw-in under their own basket.
"Miscommunication on my part," said Chandler.
With Simmons camped in the corner, his three-pointer just hit the rim and Crawford wrestled the ball away from three Jackson players to end the game on his back on the floor.
Fleming Island advanced to the final with wins over Riverside, 74-47, and Creekside, 66-53. Crawford led the scoring in both games with 26 points and 11 rebounds against Riverside with Alex Brown scoring 10.
Crawford scored 22 against Creekside with Ayden Greenidge adding 12 and Bryce Robinson adding 10.
Fleming Island will host their annual Battle on the Island Christmas Tournament for boys and girls teams with games to be played at Fleming Island and Orange Park high schools from Thursday, December 19 through Saturday, December 21.