Nease, Fleming Island punch tickets for Fortegra hoops final on Saturday

Eight high school basketball teams hit the hardwood to see who can become champion of the 4th annual Fortegra Invitational basketball tournamente presented by CSI Companies. (WJXT)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Ready for some basketball? The fourth annual Fortegra High School 9:12 Basketball Invitational presented by CSI Companies tipped off Thursday afternoon at FSCJ’s South Campus and wraps up with Saturday’s championship round.

Fleming Island and Nease punched their tickets to the 7:15 p.m. final on Saturday, with the Golden Eagles routing Riverside, 72-53, and the Panthers edging previously unbeaten Fletcher, 49-48.

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Nease beat Dublin, Ga. (42-31) in Thursday’s opener. Fleming Island (7-0), tied for sixth in the News4JAX Super 6 rankings, has romped to victories in its two Fortegra games. The Golden Eagles topped Episcopal on Thursday (67-50) and blew by the Generals in the nightcap on Friday.

Riverside won its first-round games Thursday in an OT thriller, 57-56, over previously unbeaten Ponte Vedra. Darren Smith II hit a 3-pointer with six seconds to play in OT to deliver Riverside the win. The Sharks, who debuted at No. 2 in the Super 6 this week, have gone 0-2 thus far in the Fortegra. No. 3 Fletcher’s loss to Nease was its first of the season.

Watch/listen

On Saturday, all games will be streamed on News4JAX.com and the News4JAX app. The final two games will be televised live on CW-17 and also broadcast on 92.5 FM and 1010AM.

Tickets

General admission tickets are $10 for all games but the championship ($15). They are $5 for both students and children 12 and under for all games but the championship ($8). An all-tournament pass is $75 and a courtside seating for the event is $120. They can be purchased here.

Schedule

Thursday’s results

Nease 42, Dublin 31

Fletcher 65, Impact Christian 40

Riverside 57, Ponte Vedra 56, OT

Fleming Island 67, Episcopal 50

Friday

Dublin 55, Impact Christian 54, OT

Episcopal 51, Ponte Vedra 37

Nease 49, Fletcher 48

Fleming Island 72, Riverside 53

Saturday

Seventh-place game, Impact Christian (3-4) vs. Ponte Vedra (4-2), noon

Fifth-place game, Dublin (5-1) vs. Episcopal (4-4), 2 p.m.

Third-place game, Fletcher (7-1) vs. Riverside (6-2), 4 p.m.

Championship, Nease (5-2) vs. Fleming Island (7-0), 7:15 p.m.

Tournament champs

2020: Lee. 2019: Providence. 2018: Providence.

All-tournament teams

MVPs are in bold

2020: Bobby Crouch (Bolles); Mark Flakus (Episcopal); Alex Fudge (Lee); Terrance Guinyard (Lee); Ben McGraw (Bolles)

2019: Deebo Coleman (West Nassau); Justin Hicks (West Nassau); Max McQuiddy (Episcopal); James Repass (Providence); Zyhir Sims (Fletcher).

2018: John Abate (Orange Park); Kevin Finley (First Coast); Ahren Freeman (Providence); Patrick Larmoyeux (Bishop Kenny); Max McQuiddy (Episcopal).


About the Author:

Justin Barney joined News4Jax in February 2019, but he’s been covering sports on the First Coast for more than 20 years.