JACKSONVILLE - After a red-hot Class 5A state semifinal with three players in double figures and a slew of three pointers, the Fleming Island High boys basketball team got stymied in the state championship game, 52-48, against top seed Pembroke Pines Charter in Saturday's FHSAA championship game in a packed house at the University of North Florida.

"We had a great run," said Fleming Island coach Traavis Chandler, who finished at 23-9 with the first state final in school history. "My hats off to these guys, they played their hearts out, but we didn't get the rebounds and threes we needed to get it done. That's a great program with like four state titles."

With junior center Carson Crawford the lone scorer in double figures Saturday with 20 points, the gang of eight starters and bench support players were limited by a tough and fast Pembroke Pines defense led by center Robert Guishard's 19 points and 21 rebounds. Pembroke Pines, though, had two more players in double figures —12 and 11 points, from guards Zacuras Dawson and Alex Vardakis. Pembroke Pines dominated the rebounds with 47 total to Fleming Island's 29.

"We watched a lot of film on their shooters, and they did have a big game in their semifinal, but the data doesn't lie," said Pembroke Pines coach Dave Roca, who now has his fourth state title with a 6A crown in 2024 over Edgewater and a 5A region final loss to champion Blanche Ely last year. "We knew they were shooting like 20-30% on their threes and that they would not be able to sustain the same game as the semi. Our guys were just patient and stayed in their faces."

After Crawford's 20 points, seven points from Ryan Turner was the next best total with Bryce Robinson and Jalil Hill only scoring five apiece. Hill finished with four blocked shots on the night.

"You got to have shooters and they locked us down," Chandler said. "We'll get back to work soon and prepare for next year. We know now what it will take to win a game like this."

In the first quarter, the Fleming Island strong fan base got treated to an early 3-0 lead off a Crawford free throw and a jumper, but that was it for the Eagles as Pembroke Pines stormed to react with five points: one a three from Dawson.
The first quarter score, just 8-7 to Pembroke Pines, looked like the game would be a tough scoring contest before Pembroke Pines opened with an eight-point spurt before Fleming Island could catch a breath with Turner downing his only three of the night.

"We needed the threes like the semi and they just didn't come," said Chandler, noting Turner had four threes with the team finishing with eight against Tampa Jesuit.

With Crawford continually attacking Guishard in the lane, the Eagles responded as close as 26-20 for the half.

In the third, where Fleming Island has exploded through the season with drastic speed and attack mode, the look was fervent as Fleming Island blasted to get to 26-25 with Hill following up on a Crawford miss and Robinson slicing for a layup.
A final Turner to Robinson pass and score left the third at 33-31 and a tumultuous crowd sensing a very dramatic fourth quarter.

A goaltending call on a blocked shot by Ayden Greenidge and a Guishard layup under Hill pushed Pembroke Pines to a 37-33 lead that stayed at two or three points up to the three minutes to go mark where Turner fouled out with Pembroke Pines up 48-44.

Crawford again forced his hand with a free throw and layup to get the score to 48-47 with a minute on the clock.

Fleming Island got their fifth team foul at 23 seconds to go and the ability to shoot frees on fouls proved lethal to the Fleming Island comeback with neither team scoring from the floor and Crawford ending his season fouling out with 4.3 seconds to go with the score 52-48.