ORANGE PARK - In the penultimate game of the Saturday Orange Park High Raider Basketball Invitational, the host Raiders put up a fight for three periods against Class 4A power Ware County (GA) but, ultimately, a lull in three point and free throw shooting proved costly to the Raiders in the 55-44 win.

"We couldn't put the ball in the ocean if we had to," said Orange Park coach Derek Kurnitsky, who was pleased with the team's overall effort and grit, but disappointed in the outcome. "We only hit two threes for the night and missed some frees at the end that could have made a difference."

Also in the Raider dome were fifth ranked in 5A Tallahassee Lincoln (15-0) and 10th ranked St. Augustine (7-3) with Lincoln winning a tough 69-63 contest. Bishop Kenny (13-2, ranked third in Class 4A) beat Atlantic Coast (11-5, ranked 27th in 7A) 55-44 before Orange Park took the floor. Clay lost 68-52 to Episcopal in game one of the tournament.

Kurnitsky, who returned home from three games in a week in a road trip to Chipola College in Marianna, was pleased with the team's effort against a Ware County team, 10-2, ranked eighth in AAAA in Georgia, that was chock full of outstanding size, athleticism and power from the always-strong Ware County football team. Ware County finished at 19-8 last year with a regional second round finish.

"They got linebackers and running backs out there," said Kurnitsky, prior to the game watching the warmups. "We will have to be a little quicker on the boards."

Ware County football finished at 9-3 with a second-round playoff finish.
Orange Park (10-4, ranked 15th in Class 5A with Fleming Island fourth and Ponte Vedra sixth) returned home from a five-game road trip from Orlando to Tallahassee with a 3-2 slate. Wins came against West Orange and Mount Dora Christian (10-3) in Orlando with a win in Tallahassee against Marianna, but a loss to undefeated Port St. Joe (12-0). Port St. Joe was Kurnitsky's home for a few deep playoff runs before finding Orange Park High.

Against Port St. Joe, Orange Park let a 44-42 gap after three periods and second and third period surges of 14-13 and 15-10 getting the Raiders close, but Port St. Joe went 20-10 in the fourth for the win.

Orange Park stayed close behind a nine-point first quarter from lead scorer Marcus Bullock who opened with a three on his first shot as the Raiders held a 14-12 lead.

In the second quarter, surged with tough rebounding under the boards behind behemoth center RJ Munford, a freshman at 6 feet 1 inch and 235 pounds, and sophomore MaSlyer McKoy, a 6 feet 1 inch, 210 pounder while sleek point guard Davion Jones, a football defensive back, slashed and dash through the paint for layups to push the score to 28-23 at the half.

Orange Park stalled in the third period with Ware County pulling away to a 40-28 lead as the Raiders could only muster a free throw and a buzzer three pointer by Josiah Bell.

In the fourth, Bell's three pointer put some fire into the Raider attack as Bullock and Bell found the net to a 44-38 game with three minutes to go.

"I told them to forget the score, but to continue to play hard," Kurnitsky said. "A game like this tests the character of a team. I don't want to use our road trip as an excuse. The state playoffs are all going to be tough road games."

In the final minutes of the fourth, Bell got a jumper to 44-40, but, again, Ware County stiffened up under the boards and held to a 51-41 lead with steals leading to layups. Orange Park's lone bucket was a three from guard Derek Aponte with eight seconds left in the game.

Orange Park returns to regular season action with Westside, then St. Augustine with a Fleming Island and Oakleaf double on Jan. 16 and 22. Orange Park and Fleming Island are 1-2 in the district 3-5A lineup with Ridgeview, Middleburg and Clay.

Fleming Island, 10-5 and fourth ranked in Class 5A, traveled to Bishop Snyder on Saturday for the Bernard Wilkes Invitational and played the hosts with a 67-31 win. Fleming Island got the win after a rugged road trip to the Ocala Vanguard Kingdom of the Sun Invite where the Golden Eagles had losses to Kentucky-power Christian Academy, 54-50, and Sarasota High (12-4, ranked seventh in 7A), 54-47, before getting a final win, 56-53, over Atlantic High of Port Orange (9-5, ranked ninth in 4A).

Fleming Island has 7A Creekside and Impact Christian (14-2, top-ranked in Class 1A, 13th in Florida) this week with Clay and Boca Ciega out of Gulfport (8-7, 21st in 4A) up in a week. Oakleaf, in Class 6A at 6-8 and ranked 51st, had two wins and four losses over the holiday break in two different tournaments. Oakleaf returned Jan. 8 with a home game against Ridgeview (5-8).

St. Johns Country Day School, 3-8, traveled to Orlando and came home with a win and two losses with the win a 41-28 over Chester High of California with losses to Excel Christian Academy out of Cartersville, Georgia (13-4) and Palm Harbor University High in Florida, 9-6.

The Spartans red hot three-point shooting battle has both Kaden Rocco, a freshman, and Gabriels Blaubuks, an eighth grader, with 32 threes apiece. Blaubuks had seven threes against Ridgeview with 27 points while Rocco's best game was six threes and 26 points against Global Outreach.

Middleburg, 6-9, ended the holiday with a 57-43 win over Branford at the Battle on the Island Tournament at Fleming Island High and returned with Trinity Christian and Oakleaf, Jan. 8 and Jan. 9.

Keystone Heights, 2-8, had three games in a week with a home triple against Stanton, Crescent City and Baldwin on Jan. 5,6 and 9. The Indians are getting 10 points apiece from Zane Leger and Cooper Barry.