Seahawk Girls Cruise Past Eagles, 46-36

BERLIN- Stephen Decatur’s girls’ varsity basketball team found its stride on Tuesday, building an early lead and withstanding a couple of runs by visiting Snow Hill to coast to the 46-36 win over their Worcester County rival.

Decatur came into the game struggling, having lost six of their last seven contests after starting the season 3-3. However, the Seahawks put it all together against county rival Snow Hill on Tuesday with a staunch defense a balanced, timely offense to get back in the win column.

The Seahawks got off to a fast start with senior guard Kylie Nottingham scoring a fast break lay-up on the first possession and completing the three-point play at the foul line for a quick 3-0 lead. Snow Hill nearly duplicated the effort, scoring on a lay-up on its first possession, but could not nail down the free throw and trailed 3-2 in the opening seconds of the game.

A fast-break lay-up by Decatur’s Leigh Anne Flounlacker put the Seahawks up 5-2 and Virginia Harris nailed a long three-pointer seconds later to extend the lead to 8-2. After a Snow Hill foul shot, Decatur’s Michelle Wangel nailed a jumper to extend the lead to 10-3, and Nottingham scored seconds later on a perfect backdoor cut to push the lead to 12-3 before Snow Hill started getting back in the game.

The Eagles hit a three-pointer with just over four minutes left in the first quarter to cut the lead to 12-6. Then, a pair of fast-break lay-ups by the Eagles, set up by Decatur turnovers, cut the lead to 12-11 with 1:25 remaining in the first. Snow Hill had scored eight straight points to cut the Decatur lead to 12-11 before Flounlacker nailed a jumper to stop the bleeding and put the Seahawks up 14-11.

Flounlacker wasn’t done, however. With the Seahawks inbounding the ball with five seconds left in the first, she broke free from her defender and took a perfect pass and completed a lay-up to put the Seahawks ahead, 16-11, at the end of one. In the second quarter, Snow Hill hit a long three-pointer on its first possession to cut the lead to 16-14. Decatur responded with two straight baskets by Gracie Ferber and Shaniece Hudson to push the lead back to six points at 20-14.

Nottingham hit a free throw to extend the lead to 21-14 before Wangel scored on a fast break to push the lead to 23-14. After a Snow Hill free throw, Hudson hit a long jumper with 15 seconds left in the first half to extend the Decatur lead to 10 points at 25-15 at the half.

In the second half, a similar pattern played out with Decatur extending its lead and Snow Hill making mini-runs to chip away at it. However, the Seahawks kept the Eagles at bay, withstanding a couple of late runs to pull away for the 46-36 win and the same 10-point margin they enjoyed at halftime.

The win was a rubber match of sorts for Decatur, which had split two earlier games with Snow Hill already this season. The Seahawks beat Snow Hill, 48-44, on December 15 before falling to the Eagles, 44-38, during the Coleman Holiday Tournament. With the win, Decatur improved its record to 6-10 overall including a 5-7 mark in the Bayside standings.