Decatur Cagers Open State Playoffs

BERLIN- The brackets for the state basketball playoffs were released this week and Stephen Decatur's boys' and girls' varsity teams will have a tough row to hoe in the postseason.

The Decatur boys finished the season with a 4-17 record including a 2-13 mark in the Bayside conference. Nonetheless, the Seahawks garnered a number-seven seed in the state's Class 3A-East region tournament and an opening round home game. The Seahawks face Centennial at home tonight in the first round of the playoffs at 5 p.m. The winner will face second-seeded Aberdeen. Long Reach is the top seed in Decatur's bracket.

Stephen Decatur was moved up to Class 3A this year in all sports because of increased enrollment, becoming the only high school on the Eastern Shore in the higher bracket. Consequently, the Seahawk sports teams including the basketball teams are finding themselves playing unfamiliar schools from the other side of the Chesapeake when they reach the post season.

Meanwhile, the Decatur girls' varsity basketball team, which finished the season with a 3-16 record including a 1-14 Bayside Conference mark, is seeded 13^th in the Class 3A-East playoffs and will also face fourth-seeded Centennial tonight except the Seahawk girls will have to hit the road for their opening round game.

Much of the attention locally will focus on the Snow Hill boys' varsity basketball team, which in enjoying a perfect season with a 21-0 record. The Eagles are hoping to run the table for a state championship and a remarkable unbeaten season. They are the top seed in the state's Class 1A-East region and as such earned a first-round bye. Snow Hill will remain at home in the playoffs for as long as they keep winning until the semifinals.

The Pocomoke varsity boys' team finished with an impressive 16-5 record and earned a number-three seed in the Class 1A playoffs. It is possible, and probably likely, Pocomoke will face its county rival Snow Hill in the later rounds of the playoffs.

The same situation is bearing out on the girls' side of the Class 1A-East brackets. The Pocomoke girls' varsity basketball team is seeded number one in the region and has earned a first-round bye. The Snow Hill girls are seeded fourth and also have a first-round bye. The Eagles will face fifth-seeded Crisfield in the second round and the winner will likely face Pocomoke.