COVINGTON, Ga. — In a battle between two of the premier teams from Region 8-AAAA, North Oconee swept the hosting Eastside Eagles once again to remain in first.

Following a nine-point affair earlier in the season between the two school’s boys teams, Tuesday’s matchup proved to be even more close as the Titans pulled away late to win 55-49.

On the girls side, the Lady Titans continued their strong stretch with a commanding 83-37 win over the Lady Eagles.

Eagles fall apart in the final frame, Titans capitalize for the win

For three quarters, the Eagles looked to be on their way to a first place spot in the region.

However, the final two minutes of action saw the Eagles lose grip of the game as North Oconee took advantage of a few miscues.

Down by two, Eastside found itself with a chance to tie the game after Titans’ standout Justin Wise was denied going to the rim.

Wise took a fall, and remained on the floor as the Eagles mounted a fast break.

Eastside outmanned North Oconee 4-3 on the run, but Josiah Johnson was stuffed at the rim when he took his chance inside.

The Titans grabbed the block at the same time as Wise got back to his feet under the opposing basket.

One full-court pass later, Wise sent down a dunk that put the Titans up by four and ultimately put the game out of reach.

Eastside had enough time to possibly mount a late comeback, but the Titans executed well in the final minute to close the door on any chances of a run.

“Had a minute left, we stopped them. Then we had a fast break, but they got the block,” said Eastside head coach Dorrian Randolph. “You had your whole team with you, but he blocked it and they got a leaker and then it’s a dunk and you're down by four. From there, you have to play the foul game and they do a great job at hitting free throws.”

Randolph believed his team was in a chance to grab the win, but he hopes the team can learn from the final two minutes with the region tournament ahead.

“We would like them to understand the moment,” Randolph said. “We want them to understand the clock. We got a little bit selfish that last stretch. It was like everyone wanted to get it done, but we got here playing team ball. As an observer, It was people trying to do it themselves. We are not that tall so the basketball IQ just wasn’t there. We have been working hard all week on ‘He is 6-foot-8 you have to float the ball.’ But no, we wanted to go into him. We just didn't practice what we preached.”

The Eagles have received quality guard play all season from the likes of Jevon Sullivan, Roman Sullivan and Iverson Freeman.

However, the size difference inside led to setbacks when the Eagles needed points late.

In the early going, the Eagles got ahead.

Numerous players got involved as the team grabbed a 11-6 lead before the Titans found their footing.

North Oconee started to find the right lanes late in the quarter, but Eastside entered the second frame ahead 13-10.

As the second quarter progressed and the teams remained neck-and-neck, the fouls started to pick up for the Titans.

With multiple bigs in play, increasing the fouls numbers was the cherry on top of what was a strong opening half, according to Randolph.

“We shared the ball. We went inside and we were smart. We knew Banks [Pourchier] had two fouls so we knew we had to go at him and the little Wise brother[Justin Wise] had three fouls. Justin [Wise] had two so we had to keep it on the inside to try to build those fouls up. He made great substitutions to save his guys and we were playing chess. When he subbed, I subbed to give my guy the rest. We played team ball. Jordan Poole hit a shot that was big for us.”

Poole delivered with a go-ahead three in the third frame as well, but the Eastside’s efforts after halftime were centered around stretch-big Christian Gatewood.

The junior had his hands full with a trio of tall North Oconee players, but it did not stop Gatewood from leading the team with 16 points.

After an eight-point third quarter, Gatewood finished with only a pair of points in the final eight minutes as North Oconee’s defense stole the show.

Eastside led 44-41 ahead of the final frame, but a quick run had North Oconee ahead by multiple shots just a minute and a half into the final frame.

After a quiet day on the floor, North Oconee’s Blake Bracco entered late and sunk a pair of three’s back-to-back.

Bracco’s shots kept the Titans ahead, but it was North Oconee’s defense that did the trick as the Eagles only mustered five points in the final frame.

Gatewood’s 16 points led the Eagles while Roman finished with nine.

For the Titans, the win was on the back of Wise.

Wise ended his day with 27 points as none of his teammates finished in double-digits.

Lady Titans overmatch Lady Eagles with strong play from starting trio

Three North Oconee players finished north of 17 points in the win on Tuesday as a quick start got the Lady Titans ahead early.

The Lady Eagles did not have much trouble scoring in the first quarter as the team stormed to 13 points, but North Oconee proved to be in a different gear.

The Lady Titans led 27-13 at the end of the frame, and went on to take a 54-22 lead at halftime.

While Eastside leaned on Jarilix Rivera-Villarini and Kamryn Davis, North Oconee relied on a trio of playmakers.

Laura Frances Willis, Kallie Mashburn and Leah Pollack combined to score 55 of North Oconee’s 83 points.

Willis connected on four three-pointers while Mashburn and Pollack dominated on the inside.

The Lady Eagles ultimately could not regain the success they had in the first frame as the team scored no more than nine in any of the remaining quarters.

While the trio had a quiet second half, the reserves fared similarly as North Oconee kept the pace all the way to the end.

Rivera-Villarini led Eastside with 14 points while Davis finished her day with 10.

What’s Next

For the Eastside boys team, the loss ended an eight game win streak as the record stands at 15-6 and 6-2 in Region 8-AAAA.

“We have to let this one go and come back tomorrow hungry,” Randolph said. They will be deflated over it because we felt like we could win the game. We proved for three quarters that we could win the game. But, that last two minutes is what got us. The win streak, we never paid too much attention to it. I think they will be more upset that they didn't go undefeated at home, that was one of their team goals.”

For the Lady Eagles, the team’s record still sits above .500 at 10-9 with a 4-4 record in Region 8-AAAA.

Both teams will go on the road Friday, Jan. 30 to take on the Walnut Grove Warriors.