Seahawks Win One, Lose One in States

BERLIN- It was win one, lose one for Stephen Decatur's men's varsity basketball team in the state playoffs as the Seahawks rolled past their first-round foe last Friday, beating Northeast of Anne Arundel County, 70-46, before falling to Atholton, 76-36, in the second round on Wednesday.

Decatur struggled for a win of any kind early in the season but pulled it all together for a big stretch run heading into the playoffs. The Seahawks won their last three regular season games and four of their last five to finish with a 6-15 record. Despite the lopsided final record, Decatur had a lot of momentum heading into the state Class 3A-East region tournament and Northeast, which had closed out its regular season with six straight losses provided the perfect first-round match-up for the Seahawks.

Decatur jumped all over Northeast early last Friday at home, opening up a 23-16 lead in the early in the first quarter and extending it to 34-27 at the half. Tim Donnelly, who finished with 21 total points in the game scored 16 in the first half. The Seahawks picked up where they left off in the third, reeling off a 14-5 run to extend the lead to 48-32 and there was no looking back.

Decatur finished strong and cruised to the 70-36 win. Donnelly led the Seahawks with 21 points, while Chase Furst scored 17 and Tre Foreman added 11. Tom Lubeski added a nice line in the box score with seven points, eight rebounds and eight blocks.

With success in the first round, the road only got harder for the Seahawks, who were rewarded with a second-round match-up with top-seeded Atholton. The game was set for Monday, but was postponed twice because of the snowstorm and was finally played on Wednesday. Decatur ran into a buzz saw against Atholton on Wednesday, falling to the top-seed, 76-36, to end the season. Donnelly led Decatur with 15 points while Lubeski added 13.