Eastside Boys Basketball Stuns Top Seed North Marion to Reach Region Finals
CITRA – The Rams shook up the FHSAA boys basketball Class 4A region playoffs Saturday night. In front of a sold-out crowd, four seed Eastside secured a spot in the Region 2 final with a 47-44 upset win against top seed North Marion.
“We kept telling them, fourth time can be the charm, or it can be a disaster,” Eastsdie coach Herman “Pop” Williams said. And in a win-or-go-home scenario, the fourth time truly was the charm.
Eastside and North Marion had met three times this season before the region semifinal. Two of those matchups came in the regular season, and then in the district championship game. The Colts won all three contests.
And the fourth time it was supposed to be déjà vu for North Marion (23-4), but Eastside (17-8) delivered an upset no one saw coming to advance to the region final at two seed Port Orange Atlantic (21-9) at 7 p.m. Saturday. The winner would advance to the state final four in Jacksonville.
Eastside’s identity is built around driving and attacking the basket. That being said, with the season on the line, Williams understood adjustments needed to be made. For the first time all season, the Rams shot from beyond the arc to avoid North Marion’s physical interior defense.
“We did a lot of shooting before we got here, and then we did a lot of shooting when we got here,” Williams said.
From the opening tip, Eastside launched 3s to stay in striking distance. The Rams took a 6-2 lead, before North Marion went on an 8-0 run to fire up the home crowd. Whenever the Colts threatened to pull away, Eastside responded. Jermaine Gladin hit a 3 at the buzzer to close the quarter at 13-12.
North Marion countered Eastside’s 3-point shooting with half-court pressure and a 6-0 run in the second quarter, but Javion Williams drained a clutch shot just before halftime to cut the deficit to four.
The Rams knew the importance at the break of staying focused with only 16 minutes left to save their season.
“We had to stay together, stay as a team and listen to Coach ‘Pop,’” Gladin said.
Eastside opened the third quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 29-26 lead. But once again, North Marion answered with a 7-2 run of its own.
In the last 100 seconds, only four points were scored, all by the Rams. Javion Williams hit a layup, giving Eastside its first lead of the quarter with 1:31 remaining. After a clutch stop, with North Marion pressing full court, coach Williams called the play “Box 3.” The perfectly executed call allowed Gladin to convert a wide-open layup to give the Rams a three-point lead.
“If nobody is protecting the basket and everyone is coming forward (to press), we had two guards that crossed on the baseline and went long,” ‘Pop’ Williams said of the clutch play.
Eastside then knew it needed one final stop. North Marion launched six 3-pointers in the final 35 seconds, but none fell.
“Don’t even ask, man.” The longtime Eastside coach said after watching North Marion’s six 3-point attempts. “I think I was getting older.”
When the final buzzer sounded, Coach Williams sighed in relief as the Eastside players leapt from the bench to celebrate. The Rams had done the unthinkable in the region, proving that their strong finish to the season is no fluke.
Eastside secured its first berth in the regional final since 2019. After starting 7-7, the Rams have won nine of their last 10 and are just three wins away from a state championship.
2026 FHSAA Boys Basketball State Championship Tournament Class 4A
Category: Basketball, Eastside High School, High School Sports
