Seahawks Pull Away from Eagles, 57-43

BERLIN- Stephen Decatur’s boys’ varsity basketball team beat county rival Snow Hill, 57-43, pulling away from the Eagles after a tight first half.

The first half ended with Decatur clinging to an 18-17 lead, but the Seahawks steadily pulled away through the final two quarters. Snow Hill scored on a quick lay-up to start the third quarter to briefly take the lead at 19-18. Decatur’s Jesse Engle then launched a long three-pointer from the corner to put the Seahawks back on top at 21-19. Decatur’s Cameron Gaynor converted two free throws, then scored again seconds later to extend the Seahawks lead to 25-20, but Snow Hill answered with a fast-break lay-up and a pair of free throws to cut the lead to one point again at 25-24.

After a Teron Tyre free throw, Decatur’s Drakar Purnell hit a running jumper in the paint and followed that up with a couple of free throws to push the lead back to six at 30-24. Snow Hill cut the lead to 30-27 with time running down in the third before Purnell hit a long three-pointer at the buzzer to extend the lead to 37-24 at the end of three.

On Decatur’s first possession in the fourth quarter, Engle hit a three-pointer from the corner to push the lead to a game-high 10 points at 37-27. Just a minute later, Engle again drilled a three from the corner with just over five minutes remaining to push the lead to 42-30.

With just over four minutes remaining, Chase Sams scored a lay-up off a perfect inbound pass to extend the lead to 44-30 as the Seahawks started to pull away. A nice running jump shot by Tyre extend the lead to 46-30. Snow Hill cut the lead to 10 points again at 47-37, but the Seahawks made enough big baskets down the stretch to keep Snow Hill at bay and pulled away for the 57-43 win.