JACKSONVILLE - Oakleaf High's fast-paced attack on the hardwood got severely tested in three games as the Inside Exposure Jacksonville Girls Basketball Classic showcased teams from around the southeastern United States with games at Bishop Snyder, Bolles and San Jose Prep.

"It's good basketball at a high level against teams that have very different ways to play," said Oakleaf coach Fred Cole, who faced off against Glynn County (GA), Centennial (FL) and Legacy Early College (SC) in his three-day schedule. "We put the girls in a high-pressure situation against top teams in a three-day schedule that tested their will to keep playing hard. I think we did OK."

Cole came home with a 42-34 win over 5A-region qualifier Glynn Academy, a 54-45 loss to a much taller 7A region finalist Centennial High (4-1) out of Port St. Lucie that featured three paint players over 6 feet 2 inches, and a 42-37 loss to Freelance Final Four finisher Legacy Early College out of Greenville, South Carolina.

Oakleaf is getting 16.0 points per game from freshman Brinkley Todd with sophomore Nyla Parson adding 12.7 and sophomore Jaykila Owens adding another 10.7. Parsons did the most damage on defense with a handful of steals to layups fueling the Knights' attack.

"When we are outsized, we have to put them on their heels by being fast and in their faces," Cole said.

For Orange Park, the Lady Raiders came home with a 59-37 win over 4A (0-4) West Florida High and a 51-39 loss to 5A region finalist Booker T. Washington out of Pensacola in their two games.

"We had Washington in our hands early in the game, but we made our own mistakes to give them the game," said Raider coach Michael Nesmith. "We will get our team right, the roster right and when we do, we'll be pretty good."

Nesmith was slightly giddy about the possibility of facing off with Washington later in the season as the perennial powerhouse knocked out Ridgeview last year in the Class 5A playoffs. Washington lost to Gainesville in last year's region 1-5A final and also lost to Daytona Beach Mainland in the 2024 region final.

"You know my history about playing tough teams and then creating a game plan for a second shot at them in the playoffs," Nesmith said. "We beat ourselves out there today more than they beat us."

For St. Johns Country Day School coach Tyler Miller, putting his seven-men roster up against the likes of Centennial is just a matter of seasoning up his girls.

"We come in way under manned to play the teams that are here, but I like our competitiveness on the court," Miller said. "They keep going after loose balls, shooting and battling for rebounds. When we get to regular schedule games, a tournament like this is only going to make us a little tougher."

The Lady Spartans lost both of their tournament games with Centennial winning 50-36 and Whitefield Academy out of Mableton, Georgia winning a 64-54 game.

"We were in both games right up to the end then they started just putting the ball in the middle where they had five-or-six-inch advantages and she just backed in and scored," Miller said. "We won't see much size like that in Class 2A."

Miller is still relying on the sharp shooting of sophomore Kendall Proffitt and her 28 points per game average with senior Sofie Mejia expected to add points per game as the season progresses. Proffitt has point totals of 15, 40, 31, 26 and 30 in the Spartans first five games.

"We have to let the team keep shooting and find that other scorer that can get pressure off Kendall," Miller said. "Everyone knows Kendall can shoot. We need her to have a wing man for the assist."

Sophomore Madi Dorsey has done a solid work average nearing 10 points per game.

Around the county, Ridgeview is 0-2 with a recent loss to NFEI, Middleburg is 1-2 with a win over Florida Deaf and losses to Fleming Island and St. Johns with Orange Park on the schedule for Dec. 1. Clay High beat First Coast 48-26 in a Monday game with the Blue Devils now at 2-1 with West Nassau first up after the Thanksgiving break. Keystone Heights won their season opener 48-10 over Hope Christian Academy and had a Union County road game on Dec. 1. Fleming Island is 3-1 opening with three wins before losing 59-46 to Ribault.