CALHOUN, Ga. — The Eastside boys basketball squad isn’t going anywhere after the Eagles defeated the Calhoun Yellow Jackets 60-54 in round one of the Class AAAAA playoffs.  

Beating the Yellow Jackets made the over 200-mile trip well worth it, according to head coach Dorrian Randolph. 

“It was very gratifying,” Randolph said. “A lot of people counted us out and that was motivation. I told the kids, ‘Hey, they’re just automatically giving the game to Calhoun. The problem is, they don’t know who we are.’” 

One player that Randolph and the Eagles concentrated their gameplan around was 6-foot-10, Division I sophomore recruit Dylan Faulkner. 

The Eagles seemingly threw everyone at Faulkner to defend him all night long. 

Saabir Berrian, Trebor Edwards, LJ Rivers and Jake Alexander each got a crack at guarding him. 

Faulkner ended the game with 19 points, 12 of which came from the free throw line. And, though the sophomore forward still led his team in scoring, Randolph recognized how his team walked away with the win. 

“We just sent multiple guys at him with different defensive styles,” Randolph said. “That was basically our game plan and we did it very well. We knew if we could minimize him, everyone else was our height. He was the only outlier.” 

But defense was only one factor in Eastside’s win. Multiple players made shots consistently to help the Eagles.

Kassen Saunders had a team-high 23 points, which featured four three-pointers. Jayvon Johnson was right behind Saunders with 17 along with Edwards’ five and Derrick Tuggle’s four points. 

With Wednesday’s win, the Eagles (23-6, 9-3 in region) will advance to the second round of the state playoffs for the first time in program history. Next, they will face No. 1 seed Kell (24-2, 12-0 in Region 6-AAAAA) in Marietta Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. 

Randolph believes coming away with a victory on Friday will do more than just add a number to the win column. 

“If we can come out with a win [on Friday], we definitely will send a message,” Randolph said. “I think [Wednesday’s win] opened some people’s eyes and I think this is putting us up on the map. Of course, sustained success and consistency will help open more people’s eyes. The more you win, the more people follow you.”