Decatur Girls Fall to Mardela, 55-33

BERLIN- Stephen Decatur’s girls’ varsity basketball team dropped a tough one to visiting Mardela, 55-33, this week after hanging with the Warriors early in the contest.

Mardela jumped out to a quick, 14-3, lead before most of the crowd found their seats for the “Think Pink” double-header that featured both the boys’ and girls’ varsity teams in support of breast cancer awareness on Tuesday. Decatur’s players wore pink socks as part of their regular uniforms and many of the fans in attendance got caught up in the spirit of the event by wearing pink.

Jamie Parker hit a free throw and Leigh Anne Flounlacker buried a jumper from the corner to cut the Mardela lead to 16-6 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Decatur’s Monique Wise finished a tough play in the paint with basket to cut the lead to 16-8 and Flounlacker scored seconds later on a fast break lay-up after a steal to cut the lead to 16-10, but that was as close as the Seahawks would get.

After two Mardela baskets extended the lead to 22-10, Wise scored on a lay-up to cut the lead to 22-12. With 3:20 remaining in the second, Flounlacker scored on a fast break lay-up to cut the lead to 25-14, but Mardela scored the last five points of the quarter and took a 30-14 lead into halftime. The always-aggressive Flounlacker took a beating in the second quarter, hitting the floor several times after hard fouls, and did not start the third quarter. In fact, the tough senior was noticeably absent throughout the third quarter as the Seahawks tried to hang with the Warriors.

After Mardela scored two quick baskets in the third to extend the lead to 20 points at 34-14, Decatur’s Abbey Schorr started to carry the load for the Seahawks. Schorr scored on a lay-up off a nice assist by Kelly Powell to cut the lead to 34-16. Seconds later, Schorr was fouled underneath and connected on a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 34-18. After Mardela scored six straight points to push the lead to 40-18, Schorr converted a basket after a big rebound to cut the lead to 40-20 as the third quarter expired.

At the start of the fourth, Flounlacker was back on the floor for Decatur and gave the Seahawks an immediate lift. The Decatur senior grabbed a big rebound underneath and converted the put-back to cut the Mardela lead to 40-22. Seconds later, Kristina Flakowitz hit a jumper in the paint to cut the lead to 40-24, but the damage had been done. The Warriors scored 12 straight points to extend the lead to 52-24 to decide the issue.

The Seahawks did not quit, however, and made a decent run in the fourth. Flounlacker scored on a lay-up off a nice feed from Kaitlin Hardt to cut the lead to 52-26. Schorr then scored on a free throw, followed by a lay-up seconds later to cut the lead to 55-29. Schorr scored on another lay-up after a long pass from Katie Purnell to make it 55-31. Wise completed the scoring with a jumper from the corner as the clock wound down to cut the lead to 55-33.

Schorr finished the game with 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Seahawks. The loss to Mardela on Tuesday came after Decatur beat Washington, 51-41, last Friday. The Seahawks played Wicomico yesterday in a game played too late to be included in this edition. They finish out the regular season next week with a pair of home games against Kent County and Delmar.