FLEMING ISLAND - With a somewhat shocking upset of No. 8 in 5A St. Augustine (13-2) followed by a win over Oakleaf, the Fleming Island High girls basketball team, according to coach Michael Hayward, may finally have started to believe in their skills on the court.

"You know we have had a rough first half of the season, what five wins, 10 losses, but the team has slowly started to gel together and develop that trust of teammates that good teams have," said Hayward. "The losses hurt at first but also offer a learning curve for the team in what needs to be addressed. I always push them to lessen the mistakes and play as a team."

Ironically, St. Augustine's two losses are to Fleming Island and Ridgeview; 44-32 on December 6.

"They have beaten some pretty good teams along the way, but sometimes it's styles of play that make the difference," said Hayward. "We have seen a new level of play from London (guard London Jenkins), but great energy from the rest of the team has made her more valuable."

After a January 4 loss to Raines; 53-42, Hayward had a "passionate" chat with his team the week before St. Augustine.

"It stuck," said Hayward. "I challenged them to think about a 9-1 run to the district tournament and how momentum works in the second half of seasons. The district tournament had everyone at 0-0 to start and the team with the momentum had the advantage. That could be us."

Against St. Augustine, with Jenkins, a senior guard, landing 25 points, but, more importantly to Hayward, dishing out 11 assists with three steals, the rest of her teammates now have the confidence that she will find the open man.

"We have a good group of girls on the floor; Devyn Dudones, Victoria Noble and our kind of new players; freshman Amira Martin and junior Ariana Pierce, now seeing the bigger picture on the floor, the team is moving up and down the court as one," said Hayward. "London doesn't have to do everything on her own and she is sharing the game better with her teammates. It's good to watch the transformation."

Against St. Augustine, with Jenkins at 25 points, Dudones added 18 of six three-pointers with Noble hitting for seven, Pierce adding another eight and Kristina Gallagher getting nine points apiece.

"In that week before St. Augustine, Devyn was on fire in practice from the three and we decided to start her," said Hayward. "London, who also hit two threes, found her and she hit the shot."

On the rebound end, Pierce has asserted herself under the glass.

"She has a good wing span and can reach balls further away from her that would get away from other girls," said Hayward. "Again, it's contributing to the flow of our game."

Against Oakleaf on Friday, a 53-25 win, Fleming Island was led by Jenkins at 16 with Dudones again number two with 14 with both players, plus Gallagher, hitting two threes each.

"If Victoria gets hot soon, that's a four-way shooting scheme that will be strong," said Hayward.

Pierce and Martin both had nine rebounds against Oakleaf.

Fleming Island has some lofty teams on the remainder of their schedule; locally, a resurgent Clay team (11-4), Ponte Vedra (12-4, 7th in 6A) and St. Johns Country Day School (11-4).

Around the county:

Clay was on a four-game win streak before a January 12 loss to Bishop Snyder 51-43 with the Lady Blues Devils getting 15 points from guard Teaghan Moses and 12 from freshman Aiyana Haynes. Haynes is averaging 11 points per game with Moses at just under 10; 9.8 points per game.

Clay has St. Johns Country Day School (11-4) on Mon., Jan. 5 in a probable biggest game of the season to test coach Doug Deters

Oakleaf, 5-10, got to within a 42-40 loss to Raines (12-7) in a glimpse of the probable district tournament potential of the Knights' lineup.

Oakleaf coach Fred Cole has lessened the gap of his losses with strategy with the two-point loss to Raines and a four-point loss to Andrew Jackson a week ago.

Senior Ja'Nease Bender has stepped up her game to 12.5 points per game.

Ridgeview came back to the courts with an overtime loss to University Christian, 37-32, after the Panthers beat UC in December 49-36. Nacoya Blocton led the scoring with 13 points with senior Nia Blocton held to five points as Ridgeview only got buckets from four players. UC outscored the Panthers 6-1 in overtime.

Middleburg's girl's basketball held a two-game win streak before the Christmas break with the Lady Broncos adding two more in 2024 with wins over Keystone Heights and Impact Christian Academy.

Keystone Heights still has just one win at 1-14.

Orange Park, 9-5, hosts University Christian for a 3:30 game at the OPHS MLK Jr. Invitational. The Lady Raiders got one win in three games in South Carolina and a home loss to Beachside to open 2024. Beachside is eighth-ranked in Class 6A with Ponte Vedra at seven; both in District 3-6A with Orange Park.

The Lady Raiders have three players in double figures; Piera Alexander at 13.6, Mychaela Parker at 13.3 and Hailey Revak at 10.8. Orange Park is ranked 17th in 6A with Ponte Vedra set for January 18 and defending 1A champion Hawthorne on January 22.