GREEN COVE SPRINGS - After the host Clay High Blue Devils boys basketball team spotted the visiting Oakleaf Knights 10 points at the half of their Friday night county rivalry clash, the Blue Devils dug in much like the way they overcame an 11-point deficit a week ago for an upset of Orange Park.

“I’m pretty sure every game they won, they came back from double digits,” said Oakleaf Knights Head Coach Jason Price. “I kept telling my guys, they’re coming. We were able to body some people, they had some foul trouble, we didn’t and we were able to make some timely shots. It looked a little more like us from last year down the stretch, getting multiple stops. They played hard tonight; our first true road game. To come into that, I’m very pleased.”
In the second half, the Blue Devils gnawed their way back into the mix. With 14.3 seconds to play, the Blue Devils were only down three points, 43-40. But the brick wall the Knights built all evening, keeping the Blue Devils out of the paint most of the night, held when it counted most. With Clay going to intentional fouls to regain possession, it wasn’t enough to match the Oakleaf defense as the Knights went on to a 46-40 Friday Night showdown victory in the Devils Den.
Outside on the soccer pitch, Middleburg and Clay's boy's soccer teams battled to a hard-fourth 1-1 tie in a night of entertaining sports in Green Cove Springs. Junior Xavier Abuhl scored Middleburg's lone goal off an assist from Brandon Anderson.
Clay moves to a season record of 3-3-3 while Middleburg goes to 5-3-2. Middleburg also got back on their home pitch on Monday and gave Keystone Heights (8-1-1) all they could handle with a 1-1 tie in that game.
Back indoors on the hardwood, after the 23-13 halftime score, and a defensive showdown, Clay unleashed the beast and turned up the wick, getting physical. It was Oakleaf’s defense shutting down the lane which frustrated Clay all night. Working the ball around up-tempo, Clay began to drain shots along with some amazing defense to outscore the Knights 15-13 in the third, 36-28.
The Knights were held at 36 points for almost two minutes of the final quarter as the Blue Devils pulled closer, 36-30. The Blue Devils would suffer several self-inflicted wounds as they threw the ball out of bounds on several late drives. “I told them it was a game of missed opportunities,” said Clay Head Coach Jared Moses, now 6-2 overall with a road game to Beachside on Tues., Dec. 19 before the holiday break. “We had free throws and points missed early on. When you lose by two possessions; six points, that’s too good of a team to have empty possessions against.”
With the turnovers, the Knights were clock killers with passing, looking for quality shots. With 14.3 to play, Clay had a chance when Xavier Longmire banged a three-pointer, 43-40. But the intentional fouls only added to the Knights's total when Joseph Dorvilus added points off foul shots, then stopped the Blue Devils from getting near the net to bring the game to the final 46-40 Friday night nail-biter.
Oakleaf's rugged schedule got a notch tougher on Saturday with a trip to 9-1 Camden County High where the Knights lost a 63-39 contest. Oakleaf is scheduled to participate in Palatka High's Jarvis Williams Invitational Dec. 28-30 with a 6 p.m. game on Thurs., Dec. 28 against Leesburg High (6-1).
In Clay County, a host of girls and boys teams will visit the Fleming Island and Orange Park high gymnasiums for the annual Battle on the Island Invitational with games starting on Thurs., Dec. 21. Fleming Island, 9-2, is on a four-game win streak with wins over Ridgeview, University Christian, Westside and Tallahassee Maclay in the past week. Fleming Island opens the Battle of Island with a game Thurs., Dec. 21 at 4 p.m. against Auburndale (21-9 last year, 5A region semifinalist).
Fleming Island's girl's basketball team opens on December 21 with a 1 p.m. game at Fleming Island High against Trinity Catholic with Ridgeview playing Mandarin at 10 a.m. at FIHS and Oakleaf playing Ribault at OPHS at 1:30 p.m.
For the boy's schedules, at FIHS, Fleming Island has Auburndale at 4 p.m. and, at OPHS, the Raiders take on Bolles at 7:30 p.m.
The rest of the boy's teams include Baker County, Chattanooga SAS, Mandarin, Columbia, Ribault and Lake Wales in the Green bracket and, in the Gold bracket, Creekside, Trinity Catholic, Gainesville, McMain (LA), Andrew Jackson and Santa Fe Catholic.
The girls' bracket has Oakleaf, Ridgeview, Fleming Island, Bolles, Rickards, Mandarin and Trinity Catholic.