COVINGTON, Ga. – An immediate basic between the Eastside Eagles and the Union Grove Wolverines resulted in heartbreaking trend for the Eagles.
The Wolverines defeated the Eagles 50-47 to safe the upset within the first spherical of the AAAA playoffs on Wednesday. With the loss, it’s the second consecutive 12 months that the Eagles have been knocked out of the postseason within the first spherical.
The primary quarter foreshadowed the depth that might happen all through the competition.
Regardless of Eastside hanging first with a Marion Eubanks three-pointer, the Wolverines matched Eastside’s depth on each ends of the ground. This proved to be very true within the closing minutes of the primary body, with Union Grove occurring a 8-0 run to finish the primary quarter with a 13-8 lead.
Each groups then continued to go bucket for bucket, with Eubanks and fellow senior Damien Davey main the way in which. However the efforts from 6-foot-5 wing Caleb Peele saved the Wolverines afloat, giving the visiting group a 25-21 result in finish the half.
The back-and-forth scoring continued for each groups effectively into the third body, with the Wolverines sustaining lead all through the quarter. This was till rising large man Christian Gatewood started to warmth up, scoring seven factors within the third body and giving Eastside its first lead for the primary time because the first quarter.
The third body ended with a key shot from the Wolverines’ Braylon Miller to tie the sport up at 36-36.
A lot of the identical alternating scoring continued for the primary 4:00 of the ultimate body, till a crucial pair of three-pointer’s from Eubanks and Davey gave the Eagles the 46-42 lead with 3:40 to go.
The Wolverines, nonetheless, wouldn’t be deterred, as factors from Dylan Fox and Temar Colley tied the sport as soon as once more at 46 a-piece.
When the sport was on the road, Union Grove turned to Peele as soon as once more, nailing two crucial pictures – together with one with 11 seconds to go – to present the Wolverines a 50-47 lead.
With 5 seconds remaining, Eubanks transformed a profitable inbound move to Javian Perry. Perry had a stable have a look at the basket, however narrowly missed the potential game-tying shot.
The Eagles had been unable to rebound the shot try and the clock expired, securing Eastside’s early playoff exit.
In his remaining highschool recreation, Eubanks led all Eastside scorers with 15 factors, whereas Peele led all contest scorers with 16 for the Wolverines.
Head coach Dorrian Randolph stated the end result of the sport got here all the way down to permitting one too many possessions to the opposing group.
“We gave them a few further possessions that type of killed us,” Randolph stated. “It’s on us. That’s what sealed the sport: further possessions, missed layups.”
With Eastside’s loss on Wednesday, the Eagles have formally completed the 2024-25 season with a file of 16-12 and 8-4 in area play. Each are huge enhancements from the 2023-24 season.
As of press time, the Newton Rams’ girls and boys groups are the one groups remaining in postseason play for Newton County, with Eastside, Alcovy and Social Circle all eradicated.
