COVINGTON, Ga. — The Eastside Eagles 2021-22 campaign came to an abrupt end at the hands of the Clarke Central Gladiators. In the second round of the Region 8-AAAAA tournament, the Eagles suffered a 56-44 loss to the Gladiators at home on Feb. 16. 

As a result, the Eagles won’t be advancing to the state tournament for a second straight year. 

For head coach Dorrian Randolph, it was indicative of how the season played out for his team. However, he hopes the returning players remember a lot about what transpired this year. 

“It’s been an up and down season,” Randolph said. “At times, it looked like we could be heading to do something great, but then there were times where we were not playing as much as a team. So, I hope the returning players see how they can buy into the system of being a team player.” 

The Eagles’ season ends with a 13-12 overall record as well as an 8-6 record in region play. 

Prior to the region tournament, Eastside ended the regular season winning three of its last four games. A win over Clarke Central on Feb. 8 gave the Eagles the fourth seed in the region tournament, too. 

But, even though Randolph labeled this season as an ‘up and down’ one, he and his team plan to get work as soon as possible to learn from this year. 

Randolph said he plans to look at every part of the program to build for better success moving forward. 

“I’m hoping this year causes us to come back hungry,” Randolph said. “We went to state last year and didn’t this year, and I want us to work to get back there. And that goes for us coaches as well. We gotta get back to where we were last year. I’m looking for us to improve in all facets of the game, including myself.”