JACKSONVILLE - Fueled by four 3-pointers from senior guard Ryan Turner at key turning points, the Fleming Island High boys basketball team won their Class 5A state semifinal game, 86-58, over Tampa Jesuit Wednesday afternoon at University of North Florida.
"I'm a shooter and they told me to shoot," said Turner, who finished with 19 points. "If teams think they can concentrate on one guy on this team, they would be wrong."
In the opposite semifinal, top seed Pembroke Pines Charter took care of sixth-ranked Lecanto, 65-32, to set up the championship game betweenNo. 2 Fleming Island (23-8) and the Jaguars (21-6). The championship game is scheduled for Friday at 8 p.m. at the UNF Student Wellness Complex.
Pembroke Pines features a front line of three players 6-foot-6 or taller, led by the trio of senior forwards Robert Gushard and Isaiah Jenkins; 6-8 and 6-7, with junior guard Anthony Walcott at 6-6.
Gushard shoots at a 12.5 points a game average with junior guard Zacuras Dawson leading the team at 16.8. Dawson has 48 3s on the season.
Against Lecanto, Pembroke Pines blasted the second quarter 27-8 to put the game into cruise control. Pembroke ran through an 18-0 scoring run in the second quarter.
Pembroke Pines, the 6A champion in 2024 over Edgewater, lost in their region 4-5A final last year to eventual champion Blanche Ely. Blanche Ely beat Ponte Vedra for the title.
For Fleming Island coach Traavis Chandler, who got the Golden Eagles to the 2019 Final Four but lost to Lakewood Ranch, the team was destined to get to the finals.
"All year, we kept believing that we had the pieces of the puzzle to have a great team," said Chandler, who has endured a traumatic back injury all season and has coached through his assistant coach Yakim Griner, who has been the point man commanding from the sideline as Chandler sat on the bench. "Top to bottom, including the coaches, this has been a family put together with one goal in mind."
In the final scoring tally, junior center Carson Crawford led Fleming Island's scoring with 20 points; one a 3-pointer as well, with Turner's 19, and center Jalil Hill hitting for 11 mostly from under the backboard.
"We just do what we got to do to win," said Crawford. "There is no one player here that needs the ball. If they are crashing the middle on me or Jalil, there are four other guys that can hit shots. They can't crowd the middle all game. Ryan opened the games with his 3s."
Also hitting 3s for Fleming Island were Diego Rivera, Isaiah Robinson, Alex Brown and Joseph Johnson.
Fleming Island watched Jesuit open quickly with a fast 5-0 lead in the first quarter, but quickly hit the accelerator and surged to a 17-14 lead at the buzzer.
The next three quarters was a clinic of steals, fast scores and tough rebounds as Fleming Island rocked Jesuit with quarters of 24-16, 22-18 and 23-10.
One note from Chandler was a decisive 18-1 scoring advantage from the Fleming Island bench.
"We rotate fresh legs in and keep the pace high," said Chandler. "After two quarters, they get a short rest at halftime, but we have come out in the third quarter on fire lately."