BERLIN- Stephen Decatur’s girls’ varsity basketball team capped a remarkable regular season with a 51-36 win over Queen Anne’s in the Bayside Conference championship on Wednesday, the team’s first since 1977.
The Seahawks clinched the Bayside South title on Monday with a 64-31 win over Kent Island for its 19th regular season win in a row. The Decatur streak was 21 counting two wins in the Coleman Holiday tournament during the Christmas break. Their only loss came way back on December 9 to Mardela in the second game of the season.
With the Bayside South title, the Seahawks earned a trip to the Bayside Conference championship on Wednesday at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center against Bayside North champ Queen Anne’s, which was on a pretty good streak of its own. The Seahawks applied the pressure from the start and jumped out to a 10-2 lead.
Decatur led 12-7 at the end of the first quarter and extended its lead to 28-19 at the half, but there was still a lot of basketball yet to play. Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Queen Anne’s hit a three-pointer to cut the Seahawk lead to 36-30 and the championship was far from over.
However, a three-pointer by Dayona Godwin touched off an 11-2 run by Decatur to close out the game and give the Seahawks their first Bayside Conference championship since 1977. For the record, the Decatur girls beat Kent County, 35-34, for the Bayside championship in 1977.
Godwin led Decatur with 21 points. Payton VanKirk turned in a strong performance in the title game with 12 points, while Marina Jones pitched in nine. The Seahawks are now prepping for the state 3A-East regional where they will be the top seed.