ORANGE PARK - Orange Park High basketball coach Derek Kurnitsky has what he thinks is a good combination of athlete, height and basketball skill this year that could bode well to another shot at another district title.
“Run and Gun is our game, run the floor, press all night, not going to change much,” said Kurnitsky, who improved to 4-0 with a dramatic 59-58 win over Raines on Mon., Dec. 7. “We got a lot of veterans back; Shakari Austin is our speed guy. Josiah Sabino is our shooter. D’Marre Craddock controls the floor.”
Led by senior D’Marre Craddock, the Raiders have opened with a 3-0 slate in 2020 with wins over district rival Westside, Trinity Christian and region playoff rival Ribault in a 57-53 barnburner.
In all three games, Josiah Sabino has been top scorer with games of 23, 26 and 30 points leading the Raiders. Craddock has been top assist getter with five dishes against Trinity and six against Ribault.
“We’re going on week four and we are trying to work out all the little stuff,” said Kurnitsky. “We’ll be better in January then we are now.”
Down Blanding Boulevard, Ridgeview High coach Jerome Clyburn has put together a scrappy bunch for 2020 that opened with a dramatic 49-47 win over 8A Gainesville Buchholz in an early upset win led by Nicholas Gallegos’s 18 points and Ed Whipple’s nine rebounds.
Clyburn has been getting good efforts from numerous players with Gallego, Nathan Johnston and Landon Hawkins all sharing top score duties.
Down at Keystone Heights, the three point stripe has been a good place for the Indians shooters with Gage Stevens landing six bombs in his first game, then three and four in the Indians opening three games. Ian Schofield has handled the boards with Bryson Channell running the floor.Oakleaf opened with three big opponents; Paxon, Daytona Beach Mainland and Fletcher and got bruised a bit, but Markel Allums punched in 15 points in a fourth game win over Clay.
Fleming Island got 14 points from Nick Mas in a 74-27 blowout of Englewood in their opener.

Orange Park
Dec. 1 Westside, won 58-42 (Josiah Sabino 23Pts, D’Marre Craddock 16Pts, 11Reb)
Dec. 3 Trinity Christian, won 62-30 (Josiah Sabino 28Pts, D’Marre Craddock 7Pts, 5Assists)
Dec. 4 Ribault, won 57-53 (Josiah Sabino 30Pts, 8Reb; Corey Thomas 13Pts, D’Marre Craddock 6Assists; William Mosbach 3Blocked Shots)
Dec. 7 Raines, won 59-58
Tues., Dec. 8 at Bolles
Thurs., Dec. 10 at Middleburg
Fri., Dec. 11 at Bishop Kenny
Tues., Dec. 15 at Clay
Mon., Dec.28-30 Tournament

Fleming Island
Dec. 3 Englewood, won 74-27 (Nick Mas 14Pts, Antoine Sandy 10Pts, Blake Robinson 10Pts, Ahman Greenidge 6Reb, Colton Zapp 6Reb)
Tues., Dec. 8 at Ponte Vedra
Thurs., Dec. 10 ICA
Fri., Dec. 11 Oakleaf
Thurs., Dec. 17 at Ridgeview
Mon., Dec. 21-22-23 Tournament
Mon., Dec. 28-29-30 Orlando Tournament

Oakleaf
Nov. 27 Paxon, lost 65-43
Nov. 28 Daytona Beach Mainland, lost 49-42
Dec. 1 Fletcher, lost 41-38
Thurs., Dec. 3 Clay, won 52-49 (Markel Allums 15Pts)
Tues., Dec. 8 Nease
Fri., Dec. 11 at Fleming Island
Sat., Dec. 12 at Bolles 145pm
Mon., Dec. 28-29-30 Tournament

Clay
Dec. 1 Bartram Trail, lost 53-46
Dec. 3 Oakleaf, lost 52-49
Tues., Dec. 8 at Middleburg
Thurs., Dec. 10 Bradford
Fri., Dec. 11 Ridgeview
Tues., Dec. 15 Orange Park
Thurs., Dec. 17 Palatka
Fri., Dec. 18 Bolles
Mon., Dec. 28 Fernandina Beach

Ridgeview
Nov. 23 Buchholz, won 49-47 (Nicholas Gallego 18Pts, Grant Weiskircher 13Pts, Ed Whipple 9Reb, Nathan Johnston 4Steals)
Nov. 24 Lee, lost 83-59 (Nathan Johnston 19Pts, Grant Weiskircher 13Pts, Nicholas Gallego 10Pts, Ed Whipple 9Reb, Rasheed Baker 9Reb)
Dec. 1 Ed White, lost 63-54 (Grant Weiskircher 13Pts, Nicholas Gallego 11Pts)
Dec. 3 Baldwin, lost 58-52 (Landon Hawkins 18Pts, Tajh Brown 12Pts, Ed Whipple 10
Reb, 3Steals)
Dec. 4 Fernandina Beach, won 64-58 (Landon Hawkins 20Pts, Ed Whipple 10Pts, 8Reb; Grant Weiskircher 10Pts, 2 3-PTR, Tajh Brown 6Assists)
Wed., Dec. 9 at NFEI
Fri., Dec. 11 at Clay
Tues., Dec. 15 at Interlachen
Thurs., Dec. 17 Fleming Island

Keystone Heights
Nov. 24 Yulee, lost 50-46 (Gage Stevens 20Pts, 6 3-PTR; Bryson Channell 12Pts, 3Assists, 3Steals)
Nov. 28 St. Francis, lost 61-58 (Seth Gagnon 16Pts, Gage Stevens 15Pts, 3 3-PTR; Ian Schofield 11Pts, 12Reb, 4Steals, Bryson Channell 3Assists)
Nov. 30 Hope Christian A, won 78-44 (Bryce Couey 24Pts, 10Reb; Gage Stevens 16, 4 3-PTR; Seth Gagnon 12Pts)
Dec. 1 Seacoast Christian, lost 71-60 (Seth Gagnon 23Pts, 12Reb; Ian Schofield 12Reb, Gage Stevens 20Pts, 3 3-PTR)
Dec. 4 Stanton, won 33-31 (Ian Schofield 10Pts, Bryce Couey 8Pts, Seth Gagnon 8Reb; Bryson Channell 4Assists, 5Steals)
Tues., Dec. 8 Interlachen 8pm
Fri., Dec. 11 Baldwin
Tues., Dec. 15 Middleburg
Sat., Dec.19 at FBCA Tournament (GA)
Tues., Dec. 22 Gainesville

St Johns Country Day School
Nov. 30 Cedar Creek, won 20-0
Dec. 2 San Jose Prep, won 63-42
Dec. 4 Harvest Community (Jax), won 43-42
Mon., Dec. 7 at Parsons Christian
Mon., Dec. 14 Beacon of Hope
Tues., Dec. 15 Cedar Creek
Thurs., Dec. 17 at Fernandina Beach
Fri., Dec. 18 Tournament

Middleburg
Nov. 23 Interlachen, lost 57-46 (Cory Wyatt 16Pts, 4Assists, 3Steals; Greg Holland 11Pts, 10Reb)
Dec. 1 Creekside, lost 70-40 (AJ Bridges 17Pts, 5 3-PTR, 9REb; Gavin Cook 11Pts)
Dec. 4 St. Augustine, lost 49-42 (Cory Wyatt 13Pts, Gavin Cook 9Pts, 3 3-PTR)
Tues., Dec. 8 Clay
Thurs., Dec. 10 Orange Park
Fri., Dec. 11 at Fernandina Beach
Tues., Dec. 15 at Keystone Heights
Thurs., Dec. 17 at Menendez
Fri., Dec. 18 Baldwin
Mon., Dec. 28 Nease Tournament 6pm