Eastside Boys Basketball Eyes Another Long Playoff Run
Coming off a loss in last season’s Class 4A Region 2 Final in the state playoff tournament, Eastside boys basketball is looking to hit the hardwood with a fast-paced start.
The Rams, who finished 17-9 last season, including a 47-44 upset win against top seed North Marion in the region semifinals after starting 7-7, have won both of their preseason games, including Wednesday’s 79-30 win against Saint Francis at the Eastside Tip-off Classic.
Now the Rams have to carry that success to the regular season.
“I hope (we) can do better than we did last year,” veteran Eastside coach Herman “Pop” Williams said. “One thing about Eastside, we play a lot of good competition.”
The Rams will rely on their defense, which shooting guard Jermaine Gladdin said at Mainstreet Daily News’ high school basketball media day at GHS last week will be a team strength.
That strength showed up in their second preseason game against Saint Francis, as they limited the Wolves to just 30 points.
“We had some letdowns … just play hard the whole game,” Williams said.
Eastside’s deep roster will lead to success, Williams said.
“We are eight or nine deep and they have played a lot,” Williams said. “The scorers are back.”
Eastside’s top scorers showed out Wednesday, with LaQuan Prunty scoring 17 points and Gladdin adding 14.
“I think by the end of the second quarter we started shooting well,” Williams said.
The Rams have 17 days until their season tips off, and Williams says he will be “teaching these guys … because they have a lot to work on.”
He will also have to get the seven football players who are on the team up to speed.
“I think we got a good roster,” Williams said. “We got a lot of work we got to do with the guys coming from football, getting them in shape. A lot of stuff comes after that to kind of make it where we really want to go.”
Eastside starts the regular season Nov. 28 at Williston’s Mighty Ike Classic.
Category: Eastside High School, High School Sports
