ORANGE PARK - Orange Park High girls basketball is noted for its relentless speed and aggressiveness on the court while St. Johns Country Day School's approach is more strategic due to just a seven-player roster and both teams executed their respective game plans to win district titles last week.

For Oakleaf High coach Fred Cole, the most prolific coach just a few years back with a set of Final Fours on his resume, the defensive prowess of his young squad proved formidable with a district title over district 2-6A top seed Nease.
For Orange Park coach Michael Nesmith, who was chasing his second-straight district title, the athleticism of his team was his key weapon as his Lady Raiders took on the relentless Fleming Island team led by top scorer Gianna Crawford with 26 points.

"I think we have the best athletes in the area on the court," said Orange Park coach Michael Nesmith, who earned his second consecutive district 3-5A title with a 54-45 win over Fleming Island on Friday with St. Johns Country Day School banking on the smooth scoring prowess of sophomore Kendall Proffitt to beat Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, 63-33, with Proffitt cashing in with 29 points. "We just sometimes have to settle down, take some kids out to cool off, then get back to business."

Orange Park's lone senior, guard Mariah Young, attributed the close game to her teammates getting a little caught in the rivalry.

"I tried to settle down and told them to just play our game and keep focused," Young said. "We have a lot more to do with our season, and we have to play solid, mistake free basketball from now on."

For Cole, with Oakleaf sporting an eight-game win streak that started after a Jan. 9 loss to Bishop Kenny propelled the Lady Knights to wins over St. Johns Country Day School and a buzzer beater win over Ribault, his team has taken the bruises of playing one of the toughest schedules around to mold into a resilient squad.
"I would rather have a tough schedule that we take some losses then an easy one that we pile up the wins," Cole said. "These kids have learned not to panic, played tough defense and make teams gas in the fourth quarter."

Against Nease, Cole admitted that his team, led by sophomore guard Nyla Parsons and freshman Brinkley Todd, let Nease get to a nine-point halftime lead.

"Nyla had a handful of steals but missed a bunch of layups and passes down court in that first half and I told her to keep playing hard, the shots will fall," Cole said. "In the third, Parsons and the Knights defense stunned Nease, and we were back in the game."

Cole's stunning halftime speed got a 12-3 stanza led by Parsons that got followed with a 14-10 edge for the win.

"Our athleticism puts teams in pressure situations and on their heels," Cole said. "If we hit the buckets off the steals, it's a tough thing to recover from for the other team."

St. Johns, who beat Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, 64-20, in regular season play, was content to build a quick lead as the Spartans blasted to a 43-12 halftime lead with Proffitt and guard Sofia Mejias, with 14 points, rifling away with six 3-pointers in the half.

St. Johns is currently ranked third in region 1-1A behind LEAD Academy of Pace and NFEI.

Orange Park, in region 1-5A, is top ranked with Pine Forest and Beachside at two and three. Fleming Island is ranked fourth and could provide a region playoff opponent when brackets are decided.

Oakleaf, in region 1-6A, sits behind top seed Tocoi Creek, Navarre, Niceville, Lake Howell, Buchholz, Bartram Trail, Nease and Ocala Forest. Oakleaf was ninth ranked before the district finals were played.

In district 1-6A, second-round Niceville beat top seed Navarre, 52-44. District 3-6A had top seed Tocoi Creek beat second seed Buchholz 69-34 and district 4-6A had top seed Lake Howell beat third seed Daytona Beach Mainland 77-55.