The Eastside Eagles put an exclamation point on their season Friday night on the road, capping off their regular season schedule with an 80-43 road victory over Monroe Area.

Anthony Henderson rebounded from a lackluster performance against Lanier earlier in the week to lead the Eagles (21-2, 8-0) with 19 points, shooting 7-of-11 from the field.

Treyvon Francis also chipped in 19 points, one of three Eagles to finish in double figures.

The victory over the Purple Hurricanes extended Eastside's win streak to 16 games. The streak began Dec. 14 with a 66-47 road win over North Oconee, stretching over three months and 14 different opponents.

"We were kind of sluggish, but Anthony Henderson played really well for us," Eastside coach Greg Freeman said. "He came out after having a tough game against Lanier and reestablished himself. He did a great job defensively."
Senior forward Jamal Hardge also finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and four steals.

"Our inside play wasn't great, but we got really good minutes from Jamal Hardge," Freeman said. "He was all over the place. Any time he can give us points, that's a positive because he does so many other things so well. His defensive intensity made them play faster and sped them up."

Freeman also announced that Francis was named the Region 8-AAAA Player of the Year at Saturday's morning's league meeting. Henderson also earned all-region first team honors.

The Eagles return to action Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. in the Region 8-AAAA Tournament.

Lady Eagles victorious
The Eastside girls varsity basketball team also picked up a road victory in its final regular season game Friday night, defeating the Lady Purple Hurricanes 62-49.

Eastside (13-11, 4-4) led 23-8 after the first quarter, surrendering just 20 points in the first half.

The Lady Eagles extended their lead to 38-20 at the break before outscoring Monroe Area 13-10 in the third quarter.

Monroe Area found some offensive momentum in the fourth quarter against Eastside's reserves, outscoring the Lady Eagles 19-11 in the final eight minutes of action.

"Our girls played well tonight and we had an opportunity to let a lot of our players play in the final game of the season," Eastside coach Matthew Jackson said. "We pushed the lead to 20, so we let some of our younger girls get at it.

"I'm proud of all of our girls for the effort they put forth this season," he said. "They fought through a lot of adversity and were still able to finish with an above- .500 record."

Eastside rarely played at full strength this season, seeing injuries to key players Jassmine Cook and Jasmine Green.

The Lady Eagles also left Saturday's meeting with four all-region selections. Zaria Hall-Barton and Jymara Smith earned all-region first-team selections, while Adrianna Spears and Deshantra Kelly earned all-region honorable mention accolades.

Newton downs 'Devils
Freshman Darvin Jones and the Newton Rams finished off their regular season road slate Friday night, topping Druid Hills 67-50.

Newton (19-5, 8-3) trailed 26-24 at halftime, but erased its two-point halftime deficit with a 21-point third quarter.

The Rams outscored Druid Hills 43-24 after halftime behind 17 points from Jones, who hit a trio of 3-pointers and went 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.

Keion Sims and Taylor Hawkins also chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively.

"They felt the urgency of this game and knew it was an important win," Newton coach Rick Rasmussen said. "We rarely drop two games in a row, and they were very motivated. We kept working hard and our defense was really good in the second half. It made a big difference in the game."

The Lady Rams also stayed perfect in region play Friday night with a 73-35 road win over the Lady Red Devils.
Newton scored 20 points in each of the first and third quarters, limiting Druid Hills to just 15 points in the second half.

Precious Price led the Lady Rams with 15 points, while senior Sonia Forney added 14.

Newton hostsLuella Saturday in their final regular season game of the year.