Decatur Girls Fall In Region Championship

Decatur Girls Fall In Region Championship
decatur girls

BERLIN- Stephen Decatur’s girls’ varsity basketball team’s remarkable season came to a close with a 67-42 loss to visiting Westlake in the state 3A-South regional championship game in front of a packed house on Monday.

The Seahawks, who went 22-1 in the regular season and won their first Bayside Conference championship since 1977, swept its first two games in the 3A-South region despite several snow delays last week. Last Saturday, the Decatur girls edged Northern in the region semifinals, 51-48, to advance to the championship game on Monday. Against Northern, the Seahawks trailed by two late, but made a couple of big free throws down the stretch to win the semifinal and earn a rematch with Westlake, which had eliminated them in the region title game last year.

Things started well for the Decatur girls on Monday, but Westlake’s size and athleticism eventually wore down the Seahawks, who did not shoot particularly well down the stretch. The Seahawks led 5-4 early and a put-back by Amya Mumford touched of an early run that had them leading through much of the first quarter. Mumford’s basket made it 7-6 with just over four minutes left and Dayona Godwin made it 9-6 a few seconds later with a pair of free throws.

Payton VanKirk’s put-back pushed the Decatur lead to 11-6 but Westlake went ahead for the first time in the game at 12-11 with a basket at the 2:12 mark in the first. Jillian Petito went coast to coast on a fast break to put Decatur back in front at 13-12 and Godwin made a nice spin move in the paint and found VanKirk for a layup to push the Seahawks ahead, 15-3 with 41 seconds remaining. Westlake scored on a nice turnaround jumper as time expired in the first to tie the game at 15-15 after one period.

Early in the second, Westlake hit a long three-pointer to take a 20-16 lead. Moments later, Decatur’s Lexie VanKirk scored on a nice move in the paint to cut the lead to 20-19. Westlake again answered with a long jumper to extend its lead to 22-19 with just under five minutes remaining in the period. A pair of free throws by Godwin cut the lead to 22-21. A nice runner by Blair Yesko put Decatur closer at 24-23, but Westlake responded with a long jumper to extend its lead to 26-23.

Westlake led 30-23 with time running down in the first half when Mumford scored on a put-back to cut the

Decatur’s Marina Jones launches a long jumper during the first half of the Seahawks’ regional championship game against Westlake on Monday.Photo by Shawn Soper

Decatur’s Marina Jones launches a long jumper during the first half of the Seahawks’ regional championship game against Westlake on Monday.
Photo by Shawn Soper

lead to 3025 with under a minute remaining. However, Westlake scored on a turnaround at the buzzer to extend its lead to 32-25 at the intermission. With the Seahawks trailing by seven, none of the big home crowd was going anywhere at the break with a close game and a lot of basketball yet to play.

In the third, Marina Jones jumper from the paint cut the lead to 32-27, but just as it had all day, Westlake responded with a big three-pointer to extend its lead to 35-27. Petito found Godwin in the lane and the profilic junior converted the layup to again cut the Westlake lead to six points at 35-29. After a Westlake basket extended the lead to 37-29, Jones hit a jumper to cut it back to six at 37-31. Westlake went on a decisive mini-run about halfway through the third, however.

Westlake scored on fast break layups on consecutive possessions to extend its lead to 41-31. A long jumper by Westlake pushed the lead to a game high 43-31 with 3:35 left in the third. Meanwhile, Westlake turned up the defense and forced turnovers. Decatur moved the ball well on offense at times and got good looks, but had trouble converting and scoring. Godwin cut the lead to 45-36, but Westlake hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to lead 48-36 after three quarters.

That was as close at the Seahawks would get as Westlake continued to build its lead through the fourth. After a couple more three pointers and a steady stream of foul shots, Westlake steadily pulled away for the 67-42 win. The loss did little to tarnish a remarkable season for the Seahawks. While Decatur will lose several key players to graduation, Godwin, Mumford and other young players who gained valuable experience through the big run will return next year, making the future bright for the Seahawk program.