COVINGTON, Ga. – The Eastside Eagles and Alcovy Tigers battled it out on Saturday afternoon at Alcovy High School to determine who was the better squad in Newton County. In the end, that squad was Eastside.

The opening contest between the Lady Eagles and Lady Tigers ended 46-41 in Eastside’s favor in a game that came down to the last few seconds.

The same could not be said for the boys game, as Eastside’s big third quarter allowed the visiting Eagles to come away with the 69-49 victory.

Eastside escapes with victory after late Alcovy surge

While the game between the Lady Eagles and the Lady Tigers turned into a nailbiter, the start was rather clunky.

After a quick layup off of an Alcovy turner by Jarilix Rivera, both teams traded rapid fire offensive possessions without any luck.

The first big run came with three minutes left in the first quarter, as Kam Davis and Nyla Smith elevated the Eagles to a 10-5 lead. But Simaria Wilburn and Addison Way quickly tied it back up to 10 apiece. Rivera then added a quick bucket to give the Lady Eagles a 12-10 advantage going into the second quarter.

This advantage proved to be noteworthy, as the Lady Eagles took the momentum and went on a 13-2 run to open things up. Wilburn kept things manageable for the Lady Tigers, adding four more points to get into double-digit scoring.

But it was Rivera who nailed a signature three-pointer to give the Lady Eagles a commanding 28-16 lead.

The Lady Tigers got things back on track in the early minutes of the third quarter with effective buckets by the backcourt duo of Way and Minah Little. The pair, along with Wilburn, kept the game in reach, trimming the Lady Eagles lead to five to end the quarter.

That’s when the game changed.

A quick three-pointer by Little and a strong putback by freshman Milani Baughns tied the game at 34-34 in the opening minutes of the final quarter. While the Lady Eagles managed to score two more buckets, Little turned on the jets again, scoring five more points to give the Lady Tigers a 39-38 lead.

After another trade of buckets, a costly Eastside turnover gave the Lady Tigers a 41-40 lead with 90 seconds left on the clock. But the defensive awareness by the Lady Eagles forced another turnover, which forced Rivera to the free throw line to tie the game.

A missed scoring opportunity by Alcovy allowed the Lady Eagles another chance to take the lead. A pass by Rivera to Mackayla Buchanan ended in a hard foul and another trip to the line with 16 seconds remaining.

After Buchanan missed both free throws, Eastside secured the offensive rebound, leading to another Alcovy foul. This time, Eastside did not miss, with Donee Morain nailing one of her two shots to give the Eagles a one-point lead.

Trailing by one point with 11.1 seconds to go, the Lady Tigers gave it one last effort. But a bad pass ended up in the hands of the Lady Eagles. After a few fouls and subsequent trips to the free throw line, the Lady Eagles secured the 46-41 victory.

Saturday’s win bumped the Eagles above .500, as they sit 4-3. The Lady Tigers now fall to 7-3 and are on a two-game losing streak after falling to Newton 68-19 on Friday.

Eagles secure strong victory; Tigers continue to slip

Both teams refused to waste any time coming out of the locker room, with Jordan Poole and Kortize Foust nailing each team’s first bucket within 30 seconds.

After getting to a 6-7 score within the opening two minutes of the game, the pace slowed down considerably and the turnovers began to ensue.

Overall, both teams remained evenly matched in the first quarter, with the Eagles holding a slight 12-10 lead to end the first quarter in a deja vu moment from the girls game.

Much like the girls game, the first big run came midway through the second quarter with points from Christian Gatewood, KD Davis and Iverson Freeman to put the Eagles up by seven. 

It then became a battle of the two big men, with Gatewood and Kellin Hendrix taking turns scoring in the paint.

But the advantage remained in the hands of Eastside after a Freeman drive gave the Eagles a 30-21 lead.

The Tigers looked to follow a similar formula to the first game – Close the lead and mount a late comeback. Except, the opposite happened.

The Eagles came out of the locker room with a jolt of momentum by way of veteran Josiah Johnson. The guard-heavy Eagles continued to push the pace, building their lead to 43-26 midway through the frame.

Hendrix and Graves kept things somewhat manageable, with both players entering the double-digit mark. But the momentum stayed in favor of Eastside thanks to a pair of scores by Davis to give the Eagles a 52-37 lead to end the third quarter.

Alcovy attempted to mount a mini comeback, with Graves, Jamari Willis and Jakori Pinelle closing the game within 14 points.

Roman Sullivan, however, had other plans.

The 6-foot-2 sophomore went on a scoring tear to close out the contest scoring nine points in a two-minute span. Sullivan put the exclamation mark on the game with a one-handed dunk, ending his night with a 16-point performance off of the bench.

In the end, the Eagles won 69-49 to improve to 5-3, while the Tigers fell to a disappointing 3-7.