Boys Handle Easton to Claim 1st Title

BERLIN- Stephen Decatur's boys' varsity lacrosse team's first trip to the Bayside Conference championship game ended this week ended with the Seahawks claiming the title with a convincing 19-7 win over Easton.

Decatur faced Easton for the second time in a week when they traveled to Washington College on Tuesday to face the Warriors in the conference title game and the result was more of the same. Just as it played out last week, Decatur and Easton played fairly evenly through the early part of the game before the Seahawks high-powered offense pulled away.

Decatur led 2-1 after the first quarter and extended the lead to 6-3 at halftime behind Paul Kramer, who scored five of his game-high seven goals in the first half. Last week, Decatur and Easton were tied at 6-6 at the intermission before the Seahawks pulled away in the second half, and the same pattern played out in the conference title game on Tuesday.

Easton cut the lead to five goals at 12-7 in the second half, but that was as close as the Warriors would get. Led by a dominating performance on face-offs by Logan West, who won 17 of 26 in the game and 10 of 12 during one stretch in the second half, the Seahawks maintained control of the ball and scored the game's final seven goals, including five in a two-minute stretch, to pull out the 19-7 win.

Kramer finished with seven goals while West added four. Bruce Howe scored three goals, Calvin Snyder scored two and Nick Hogan and Ben Kelleher each pitched in one. Decatur finished the season with a 12-1 mark and earned a number two seed in the state Class 3A-2A East Region playoffs.

Kent Island, which hung the only loss of the season on the Seahawks back in April is the top seed in the region. Decatur opens the playoffs tonight with a home game against seven-seeded Annapolis.