Alexia Somerset has made her impact felt and is making a case for being the best player in the county. Eastside’s senior combo forward scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Lady Eagles past Walnut Grove 61-50 Tuesday and since her return, Eastside has yet to lose.
Journee Stokes had 13 points and seven rebounds while Jymara Smith added eight.
The Lady Eagles raced out to a 34-19 lead and led by as many as 22 in the second half before Walnut Grove made a run late and cut it to 10.
Eastside was able to withstand the run and hold on for the 9-point win.
"It was a very emotionally charged game that has birth a true regional rivalry for next season," Eastside coach Matthew Jackson said.
Eastside and Walnut Grove both move to Region 8-AAAA next year in the Georgia High School Association's new six classification system.
Somerset also led the way last Friday with an 11-point, 12-rebound effort in Eastside’s 44-29 region win over Eagles Landing. Rayneisha Clay and Smith also had 11 points.
Somerset is averaging 18 points and 11 rebounds since coming back in Eastside’s third game. Without her, the Lady Eagles lost their first two games by a combined 56 points.
Eastside is 5-2 on the season but more importantly, 4-0 in region play. They host Newton tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.
Alcovy teams cruise past Ola
Alcovy’s basketball teams handled Ola Saturday with relative ease. The girls cruised to an 84-29 win to move to 2-0 in region play and stay undefeated overall before the boys blasted the Mustangs 73-41. The boys also moved to 2-0 in region play. The Tigers’ lone loss came against Morgan County last month by two points.
Eastside’s boys drop second straight
After a two-game winning streak, Eastside’s boys have lost their past two after falling to Walnut Grove 67-61. The Eagles lost to Eagles Landing 69-38 last Friday.
Before that, Eastside’s boys had started to find their rhythm. Wins over Stockbridge and Locust Grove the week before gave the Eagles a 2-0 start to region play. With this week’s two losses, Eastside is .500 in region play and 2-5 overall.
Things don’t get any easier tomorrow. Eastside hosts and all-of-a-sudden hot Newton team which comes in winners of their last two.
The Eagles took last year’s home game against Newton 52-49. It was the first time an Eastside team under then head coach Michael Gerald had defeated a Rick Rasmussen-led Newton team. With Gerald out of the picture, the Eagles look for a fresh start with first-year coach Gregory Freeman.
The Eagles lost their first county rivalry game under Freeman in the opening week at Alcovy. Tomorrow’s game will the first county rivalry game for Freeman at home.
