ORANGE PARK - After a three-game skid that saw Ridgeview High's girls basketball team lose to three ranked teams; Providence (OT 61-55, No. 1 in 3A), Ponte Vedra (55-54, 11th in 6A) and Bishop Kenny (54-52, No. 2 in 4A), Panther head coach Gussie Solomon was sent an email inquiring about the close games that her team was losing, but no answer.

The answer may have come Friday night at Fleming Island (2-4) when the Panthers revved up to a 9-0 opening salvo behind a balanced front attack started with a three-pointer from sophomore Emma Rayes and ending with scores of 18-4 after the first quarter and 28-9 at the halftime break. Leading the charge for Solomon was the sister combination of Nia and Narissa Blocton.

In the second quarter, a three-pointer again; this one from Ziyah Campbell to open the second stanza was preluded by a buzzer-beating three from Jamya Davis to end the first quarter as Ridgeview kept the pressure on the Golden Eagle attack.

On defense, Rayes took on Fleming Island shooting guard Victoria Noble (10.3 PPG) while sophomore Narissa Blocton's job was to slow down Fleming Island's lead scorer, London Jenkins (13.8 PPG).

Unbeaten Providence (8-0), on Saturday, handed Orange Park (6-1, ranked 10th in 6A) their first loss with a 59-45 game at Providence to put the Lady Raiders at 6-1. Providence, with seven three-pointers and three scorers in double figures, outscored the Raiders in the first three quarters; 49-27, before Orange Park shook off the cobwebs and ran up an 18-10 fourth quarter to make at least a showing of the lopsided contest.

Orange Park had wins over 65-32 over Fleming Island and 66-47 over Flagler Palm Coast before the Providence game.

In Class 2A, St. Johns Country Day School has piled up five straight wins after a season-opening loss to Orange Park with wins over Middleburg (56-27) and ED White (63-45) last week.

Against Middleburg, first-year coach Tyler Miller has found a balanced success in the post-Taliah Scott era with senior Mary Kate Kent singing the nets with 22 points and Kendall Proffitt and Sophia Mejias adding 17 and 14, the Lady Spartans rolled to a 24-7 first quarter lead before going into autopilot the rest of the game, outscoring the Lady Broncos in each stanza. Mejias is slowly inching toward the double-figure scoring range of Kent and Proffitt and could put the Lady Spartans in a position to run up against three competitive teams from the southeast USA with the Spartans traveling to play Porter-Gaud (SC), Academic Magnet (SC) and Barbourville (KY) in the Dec. 28-30 13th annual Carolina Invitational tournament in Charleston, SC. Note: Orange Park will also travel to Charleston, but is not scheduled to play St. Johns unless both coaches agree to meet at a local playground for a grudge match.

Oakleaf got their first win of 2023 with a 47-30 victory over Bartram Trail to stop a five-game season opening losing streak as coach Fred Cole looks to find the Final Four magic.

Against Bartram Trail, Oakleaf surged away from a one-point gap for most of the first half before putting that game at 34-20 into the fourth quarter.

"For us, not turning the ball over was key against Bartram Trail," said Oakleaf coach Fred Cole. "And we are hitting shots. We couldn't buy a bucket in our first few games and now we are hitting better."

Cole and the Oakleaf girls will be competing in the Jarvis Williams Tournament in Palatka as well as the Battle on the Island at Fleming Island over the Christmas Holiday.

Clay continues their buildup of wins in the coach Doug Deters era with a 5-3 record off wins over Middleburg (38-17) and Englewood (46-3) with a loss to Florida School of Deaf and Blind sandwiched between the two; 36-27.

Against Englewood, freshman Aiyana Haynes pumped in 15 points with recent lead scorer Teaghan Moses adding seven and Layla Summers hitting eight with each hitting one three-pointer apiece.

Keystone Heights (1-6) visits Clay on Tues., Dec. 12.