Video: Eagles Take Upper State Crown In Overtime

Eastside's boys basketball team darted toward a racuous student body sitting in the Bi-Lo Center on Friday night after taking home a win Saturday night nearly 30 years in the making. 

Eastside booked its ticket to the State Championship game against Hartsville on Friday by winning its first Upper State title since the 1984-1985 season, defeating Daniel 64-60 in an overtime slugfest marked by tenacious defense. 

Junior guard Keil Sherman scored 27 points to lead the No. 1 Eagles, who trailed most of the second half. 

Through the first quarter, Eastside built a 16-12 lead despite multiple missed shots within five feet of the basket and poor free throw shooting early. But Daniel, led by their trio of Justin Dotson, Tyus Gaines and Jae'Lon Oglesby, surged to a 29-27 lead at halftime, playing mostly aggressive man-to-man defense. 

"They battled us hard," said Eastside Coach Tom Chamness. "We got the ball inside, and we just couldn't finish. I dont' know if it was the arena or what it was, but we struggled a little bit early on. But the kids never faltered. They kept believing."

It appeared it may be Daniel headed down I-26 for a trip to the state finals in Columbia when the Lions extended their lead to 44-36 with two minutes left in the third quarter. The Eagles were on the ropes, and the Lions continued to pour in more intensity. 

"They were aggressive," Chamness said of Daniel. "They wanted it." 

But Eastside battled back to within four at the end of the third quarter, and with just under two minutes left in the game, the lead had been cut to 54-52. After AAA Player of the Year Davaris McGowens, was fouled with 53 seconds left, he sank both free throws to draw the game to a tie. 

Eastside had the ball with 11 seconds left in the game, but a Kyle VanHoff missed a jumper at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime. 

A defensive battle even into overtime, first two minutes of extra period saw no scoringn by either teams. With roughly 2:04 left in the game, McGowens made a physical move in the post and successfully sank a bucket off the glass as he fell to the floor near the baseline to give Eastside a 2-point lead - the Eagles' first since the second quarter. 

Sherman iced the game the rest of the way, getting to the foul line five times in the last two minutes, and sinking all of his free throws.

"I knew Davaris wasn't having a great offensive game, so I felt I was going to have to step up this game," Sherman said. 

A Daniel 3-pointer late cut the Eagles' lead to 62-60 with only a few seconds left, but the Lions then tried to call timeout when they had none remaining, resulting in a technical foul. Sherman promptly buried two free throws to give the Eagles a 64-60 lead, which held up as the buzzer sounded. 

Chamness praised his team's effort against an aggressive Daniel team. 

"We didn't back down from that. You get punched in the mouth, and you see how you respond. You get back up, or you lay down. We didn't lay down," Chamness said.