Decatur Holds onto Bayside Lead

BERLIN- Stephen Decatur's boys' varsity basketball held on to the top spot in the Bayside Conference standings on Tuesday, beating visiting Wicomico, 45-38, to improve to 7-1 in conference play.

After relinquishing the conference lead with a loss to Pocomoke last week, the Seahawks regained their form this week with a pair of wins although it wasn't always easy. Decatur edged Mardela, 51-50, last Thursday after leading the Warriors by as many as 19 points in the second half. On Tuesday, the Seahawks followed up that win with a victory over Wicomico to maintain its spot atop the Bayside standings.

Against the Indians on Tuesday, Deon Powell led the Seahawks with 12 points, while Tom Lubeski and Cedric Johnson added nine points each. The win improved the Seahawks' record to 9-2 overall including an impressive 7-1 mark in the conference.

In the narrow win over Mardela last week, Decatur jumped out to an early lead and led 27-13 at the half. The Seahawks extended the lead to 19 points early in the third quarter before the Warriors started chipping away with hot shooting from the floor. Mardela cut the lead to just six points heading into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth, Mardela stayed hot and actually took the lead, 45-43. The game was tied, 47-47, with time running out when Powell converted an assist from Johnson to put the Seahawks ahead, 49-47. Johnson made a couple of free throws in the final minute of the game to extend the lead to 51-47 before Mardela hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to finish at 51-50.

Johnson led Decatur with 17 points, while Lubeski added 14 to go along with 14 rebounds and seven blocks. The Seahawks played Kent County last night in a game played too late to be included in this edition. Looming next Tuesday is a home game against Bennett.