Who would've thought it?

"No one would've. Not even us," admitted Bayside Head Basketball Coach Martin Russ.

The Marlins - who had finished below .500 in each of the previous 12 seasons and began this postseason at just 7-8 overall - stunned the Hampton Roads area and entire basketball world for that matter. Now they take their show from Virginia Beach to the big stage, that being the State Tournament of course.

Bayside continued its stunning playoff run on Tuesday night as the calendar flipped from February to March, upending top-seeded Indian River 60-47 for the Region 5A Championship before a packed and deafening crowd at Tallwood High School.

"To see the fans rejoicing and jumping, celebrating, cheering for Bayside... it's been a long time since we've had that support," Russ added.

The No. 7 seed when the tourney began, Bayside erased a nine-point third quarter deficit to beat Princess Anne 52-45 in the regional quarterfinals. They then took down third-seeded Kempsville 53-52 in the regional semifinals when senior guard Landon Russ - Martin's son - nailed a pair of free-throws with less than two seconds to play.

Indian River came in rather hot, having won eight straight since a loss to unbeaten King's Fork to enter the regional title game at 19-4 overall under first-year Head Coach Justin Brandt. Although the Braves fell behind 13-3 as Bayside came out on fire, draining 5-of-6 from the field to start behind a boisterous section of supporters, things quickly became very intense and evenly played for much of the contest.

In fact, Indian River even took a brief 27-26 lead with 3:54 remaining in the third period on a Kei Nichols three-pointer. Bayside would re-gain the lead, 37-33, going into the final stanza.

Though the Marlins led just 46-42 with 2:51 to play following a couple of C.J. Madison three-pointers, there was one more surge left in the tank as they went on a 14-3 run to put the game out of reach.

"I don't even know what to say right now. I'm speechless," remarked Landon, the game's leading scorer with 20 points on a cool 8-of-13 shooting to go with four assists compared to just one turnover.

"This group of guys, we've been working since day one. My dad always told us we're a state caliber team. We put in the work. Now, we're starting to wake everybody up."

Bayside becomes the sixth different Beach District program since 2006 to capture a regional title. It's the most celebrating the basketball team has done since winning back-to-back state titles in 1990-91 under then Head Coach Ron Jenkins. Those teams were expected to be Championship contenders. This group? Not exactly after a 2-6 showing during the COVID-shortened season in 2020-21.

It's one of the more improbable stories since Salem won a regional title as a No.8 seed in 2017-18

From 1-5 with a 28-point loss to Kempsville to winning nine of their next 12 games with the program's first regional title in 32 years, it's something the bunch from Haygood Road will never forget.

"I told Coach [Kenneth] Harris [at Green Run] many years ago it's not what you do in December and January. It's what you're doing in February," Coach Russ noted. "We found a way to put it together. I'm so proud of these guys. I'm happy for everyone."

For Coach Russ in his 16th season at the helm of the Marlins, the exhilarating ride continues. His Marlins will play host to Menchville (19-6), the Region 5B runner-up, in the Class 5 State Tournament quarterfinals.

"We don't want it to end," Russ says.

Bayside senior guard Landon Russ chats with VirginiaPreps.com's Matthew Hatfield following his team's 60-47 victory over Indian River in the Region 5B Championship on Tuesday, March 1 at Tallwood High in Virginia Beach.

Right out of the gate, Bayside jumped out to a 13-3 lead and only fell behind for a brief moment at 27-26 with under four minutes to go in the third quarter before going on a 34-18 binge to close out the contest.

Russ finished with a game-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field with four assists, three rebounds and three steals to help the Marlins capture their first regional title since the 1989-90 campaign. That year, Bayside went on to beat Hampton in both the regional title game and Group AAA State Championship on their way to back-to-back state crowns.

The seventh-seeded Marlins became the sixth different Beach District program on the boys side since 2006 to win a regional title, joining Landstown (3x), Green Run (2x), Cox, Salem and Tallwood.

Next for Russ and company is a date with Menchville, the Region 5B runner-up, in the VHSL State Tournament quarterfinals in Virginia Beach.

Bayside Head Basketball Coach Martin Russ chats after his team's 60-47 victory over Indian River in the Region 5A Championship held at Tallwood High School in Virginia Beach on Tuesday, March 1, 2022.

The Marlins, who began the tourney at 7-8 overall as the No. 7 seed, captured their first regional crown since 1989-90, a season that marked the first of back-to-back Group AAA State Championships.

With the victory, Bayside moved to 10-8 overall and secured its first winning season since a 15-11 overall finish in 2008-09.

Next up for Bayside is a date with Region 5B runner-up Menchville in the VHSL State Tournament quarterfinals on Friday, March 4th.

#1 - Value Possessions: One of the most telling stats at the end of the night was turnovers. In a 77-55 loss to Cape Henry in the opener on November 30th, the Marlins coughed up the basketball 25 times. With a regional title stake and so much emotion and energy in the building, they maintained their composure beautifully as Landon Russ, senior KeAndre Willie and sophomore Shawn Jones played with poise in the backcourt.

"Very important because those were one of the bullet point that we talked about," Russ acknowledged of turning it over only 10 times with only one of those coming in the decisive fourth period.

"We had to keep our turnovers down. When we keep our turnovers down, we're a pretty good team. We did that tonight."

Meanwhile, Indian River turned it over on 16 occasions, three in the fourth period. The Marlins were able to cash in on many of those with 10 steals.

#2 - Keep Indian River Off the Glass: Another factor for Indian River throughout its stellar season has been board play with 6-foot-5 senior Zion Lloyd often soaring above the rim to collect rebounds and even throw down dunks, which he did on a pretty play in transition in the second quarter.

Bayside managed to out-rebound the Braves 27-22, which included 12 offensive boards and just five for Indian River.

"That's what we focus on. We send all five guys to block out," Coach Russ indicated.

"After watching film on them, they were sending five guys to the offensive glass. I was like, 'Wow.' We have make sure we control the defensive boards."

The main figure in that effort for the Marlins was junior forward Modokwe Piyassa with eight rebounds. The guy that goes by the nickname of 'Prince,' also had nine points and three steals.

#3 - Share the Ball: Unselfish teams win in postseason basketball. Bayside played selflessly and that starts with Landon Russ taking quality shots and trusting his teammates.

"He's got people he can distribute the ball to and other guys who can knock the shots down. Early on, they were double-teaming and triple-teaming. He was getting frustrated," Coach Russ revealed.

"Now these guys have gotten their confidence up. You can't just double him because he can distribute the ball as well, and they're putting it in the basket."

Landon along with the aforementioned Joens and Willie combined for 13 of their 15 assists. The Braves were held to 10 assists.

"Our defense has been great," Coach Russ continued. "The other key figure is that we were able to score. We've been getting balanced scoring throughout these last four to five games."

Matthew Hatfield serves as Publisher for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and is a regular contributor to the ACC Sports Journal. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and don’t forget to listen to him from 10 AM to Noon on 757 Saturday Sports Talk on ESPN Radio 94.1.