COVINGTON, Ga. – For the first time since 2023, the Eastside Eagles are Sweet Sixteen bound.
On Wednesday, the Eagles knocked off the visiting Warner Robins Demons in the first round of the 4A state playoffs in a 58-40 result. The win comes after two consecutive first-round exits, including a stunner against Union Grove in 2025.
This marks the just the second time that the Eagles have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in the Dorrian Randolph era.
“That team right there is the best team I’ve ever had,” Randolph said while pointing to the 2022-23 Sweet Sixteen banner. “So these guys said at the beginning they want to be better than that team. And I told them, ‘Well you’ve got to get to the Sweet Sixteen first,’ and they’ve done it. So it feels good.
“It’s good to have teams that wanna be better than the teams you’ve had because that breeds competition all the way around.”
Wednesday’s performance was led by senior Josiah Johnson, who tallied 14 points. Johnson, who’s the longest-tenured veteran on the team, believed there was no way the Eagles were dropping this game.
“I’ve been here since I was a sophomore and I got first rounded every year,” Johnson said. “I couldn’t go out my senior year, not with this group. We got the most talented group, in my opinion… It’s amazing, like this is the best thing in the world.”
The Demons struck first by way of a three-pointer from Prince Ragin. But like many teams this year, they couldn’t figure out how to stop Christian Gatewood.
The 6-foot-6 forward did what he does best by punishing the paint and scoring over several Warner Robins defenders. Gatewood’s nine points led the Eagles to a 20-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Warner Robins fared much better offensively in the second quarter, including a 6-0 run to start the frame.
As Gatewood began to cool off, the Eagles guards took over. Johnson added eight points to kept the lead in the Eagles’ favor with a 32-22 score at halftime.
Johnson, Iverson Freeman, Roman Sullivan and Jevon Sullivan got their own buckets to go for an 8-0 run to begin the third quarter.
A small Warner Robins run kept things manageable, but the Eagles did enough to maintain a 15-point lead as the fourth quarter began.
The second half saw a number of highlight reel plays such as an alley-oop from Freeman to Gatewood and a LeBron James-esque block by Roman Sullivan. Outside of that, the Eagles struggled offensively in the late going.
There were no field goals by either team in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, and the Eagles would only finish with eight points scored in that frame. But the Demons couldn’t capitalize off of Eastside’s offensive miscues, allowing the Eagles to coast to an 18-point victory.
While the win is a big milestone for Eastside, the road does not stop here. The Eagles will travel to Pace Academy (21-7) in Atlanta on Saturday. The Knights have not lost a game since Dec. 30, 2025 and are on a roll after defeating the Dalton Catamounts in their first round matchup.
Randolph says that in order to get the win, the right Eastside team has to be present.
“Which Eastside is gonna show up?” Randolph asked. “Eastside was good enough to get past the first round, but eight points in a quarter is not gonna get it done… We’re definitely gonna have to play better against a Pace Academy who has multiple double-digit scorers.
“...Now it’s time to focus on Pace cause we’ve accomplished the first round.”
