ORANGE PARK - Ridgeview High's girl's basketball may have taken their hits early in the season; a loss to Ribault (8th in 4A), a loss to Providence (5th in 2A), a loss to NFEI (4th in 1A) but coach Gussie Solomon's squad is finding their mojo with back to back monster wins; one over Bishop Kenny after a horrendous first quarter (down 20-8) to win 42-36 with three single-digit defensive quarters against the Crusaders; the second, just three days later, over Ponte Vedra (6A Final Four last year).

The double whammy for Solomon puts her Panthers at 10-3 as district tournaments are upcoming and her team seemingly extracting as much basketball talent as it can from a young and inexperienced group of players that has melded to the double duo Blocton attack from Narissa and Nacoya Blocton. The Blocton double shot was 16 points and 12 points against Bishop Kenny with senior Emma Rayes getting two threes with a feeling that more are coming. Senior Jamyra Davis, whom Solomon did not have for the Christman final, has been rock solid under the boards leading with rebounds.

Solomon's journey got quick-started with a tournament Christmas win over Fletcher (23rd in 6A) before the January hiatus and as part of a three-game win streak prior to adding Bishop Kenny (4th in 4A at the time, now even better at third in 4A ( figure that one out?), last year's state runner-up) and Ponte Vedra (26th in 5A, Final Four 6A last year) to the resume. Note: Ponte Vedra graduated its top three scorers from their Final Four team.
Ridgeview finishes its regular season with Fleming Island, The Rock and Baker County this week before the Clay County County Cup tournament featuring all the county teams plus Bishop Snyder in a four-day schedule (Jan. 20-24) with games at Ridgeview and Orange Park high schools.

------------

Clay County Cup
Girls Basketball

Monday, January 20: Ridgeview vs. Keystone Heights at RHS (7:30 p.m.); Oakleaf vs. Fleming Island at OPHS (6 p.m.); Orange Park vs. Middleburg at OPHS (7:30 p.m.); Bishop Snyder vs. Clay at RHS (6 p.m.)

Winners play on January 22 at RHS and OPHS, 7:30 p.m. each game.
Losers play at 6 p.m. before the winners' games.
Final played Friday, January 25 at OPHS at 7:30 p.m.

------------

Around the county, Orange Park (11-7, 19th in 5A) is on tap to trade baskets with twice Class 1A defending champion Hawthorne High on Monday, January 13 with a second shot at Ribault, now 12-8, on January 27. Freshman Ella Crowe leads the Raiders with 11.5 points per game with junior Mariah Young tops in rebounds at 4.1 and also with steals at 3.8 per game.
Oakleaf, with a vast history of playoffs under coach Fred Cole, has suddenly emerged with a four-game win streak; ED White, First Coast, Andrew Jackson and Nease, halted recently by a game Fleming Island (37-27). Another freshman, Fleming Island's Seven Gourdet, led the Golden Eagles against Oakleaf with 14 points.
Fleming Island has three solid opponents coming with Episcopal, Ridgeview and St. Johns Country Day School to test coach Mike Hayward's troops.
St. Johns Country Day School, 11-4, returned from a Christmas trip to South Carolina and battled with an 11-1 North Marion team, which lost 37-23, with lead scorer Kendall Proffitt held to 14 points well below her 27.9 points per game average.
With that stat out there, Proffitt rebounded (pun intended) with 33 and 44 points (Nine 3-pts) in wins over Florida Deaf and St. Joseph Academy. Proffitt's previous best effort was a 38-point total against Middleburg.
Middleburg, 5-9, with first-year coach Tenice Haynes, has put together five wins after an 0-6 start with the Broncos winning four of seven into January with a January 10 46-27 win over Clay. Sophomore Alyana Haynes, the top scorer at 16.9 points per game, popped for 26 points with four threes to lead the Broncos against Clay. Freshman Makayla Burns is just under 10 points per game.
Clay, 3-9, is averaging just 19.4 points per game led by Kathryn Moran's 4.9 per game.
At Keystone Heights coach Sarah Andrews, game one was the lone win for the Lady Indians who have two road games to Union County and Duval Charter this week.