MARIETTA, Ga. — Eastside boys basketball’s historic season came to a close Friday night at the hands of No. 1 Kell Longhorns. The Eagles lost 79-48 in the Sweet 16 round of the Class AAAAA playoffs.
Friday’s result came just two days removed from the Eagles’ upset of No. 2 Calhoun Wednesday night. Eastside had its eyes set on the same thing Friday, but Kell’s multidimensional attack was too much to handle.
Shortly after the tip-off, the Eagles had their work cut out for them as Kell relied on Payton Marshall, who controlled the paint on both sides of the floor with his 7-foot frame. And, though the Eagles continued to double and triple team Marshall, that allowed the Longhorns’ shooters to start gaining the advantage on the perimeter.
Head coach Dorrian Randolph highlighted that after the game.
“It changed everything,” coach Randolph said. “We knew that it would be a problem, and we tried to employ the same strategy we used against Dylan [Faulkner] in Calhoun, but those are two different kinds of players. Once [Marshall] catches it in the spot, it is tough to get him out of there. We did a decent job, but when you have to help out, they have shooters all around.”
On the other side of the floor, Eastside struggled to find a rhythm offensively, going into halftime down 41-23, and Kell continued to pull away as the third and fourth quarters went on.
As the final seconds the season ticked away on the game clock, Eastside players heard a standing ovation from parents, fans and school officials who made the trip to support the Eagles.
Following the loss, the Eagles’ final record moved to 23-7, with a 9-3 record inside Region 8-AAAAA.
The 23-7 mark is their best in almost a decade, and this Eagles’ team is the only team in program history to advance to the Sweet 16.
After the game, Randolph shared his thoughts on how his team rose above the adversity to set program history.
“I want them to be remembered by how hard they played and how they played as a team,” Randolph said. “The journey was a fun one. We saw the progression of them playing for each other and not caring about who is scoring. For being as little as we are, we played hard. That is what they have to be remembered by, just a bunch of short people who gave it their 110%.”
There were multiple Eastside seniors who played their final games on Friday, too, but none seemed more important than Kassen Saunders, who was one guy who made the Eastside’s offense go.
Saunders scored 21 points in the game against Kell — followed by a 23-point outing at Calhoun — while averaging almost 13 points per game over the season.
“Without [Saunders], we would not be here,” Randolph said. “He is a spark plug; he can shoot that ball. We are definitely going to miss him. It was a joy coaching him over these last two years.”
With the 2023 season over, coach Randolph had a message to the returning players for next season as they plan to make these playoff games a new standard for Eastside basketball.
“They have to understand what it takes to get here again,” Randolph said. “Because now, it is an expectation.”
