BERLIN- Stephen Decatur’s girls’ varsity basketball team closed out its regular season with a resounding 64-32 thumping of Parkside last Thursday to clinch the Bayside South championship, but the Seahawks bid for a conference title was put on hold this week when the threat of severe weather including a tornado warning on the Lower Shore postponed the conference championship game.
The Seahawks were outstanding all season, compiling a remarkable 18-3 overall record the cruise to the Bayside South championship. The Decatur girls’ only regular season loss came against county rival Pocomoke way back on December 21 and the dropped two close games in the Governor’s Challenge over the holiday break to tough teams from the other side the bridge.
Since then, the Seahawks have reeled off 14 in a row to clinch the Bayside South title and earn a shot at the Bayside Conference championship with a game against Bayside North champion Kent Island originally set for Wednesday. However, that contest was postponed late Wednesday afternoon when the threat of severe weather, including thunderstorms, heavy rain and flooding, possible hail and even a tornado warning forced the girls’ and boy’s Bayside championship games to be postponed.
With the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center unavailable on Thursday, the conference championship games were moved to Thursday at the James M. Bennett High School gym, the largest high school gym on the Eastern Shore. The championship games were played on Thursday and the outcomes were decided too late to be included in this edition.
Regardless of the outcome of the conference championship game, the Seahawks’ goal of going deep into the state playoffs is still out there with a clear path to a regional and possible state championship. When the regional brackets were released on Tuesday, the Decatur girls’ were awarded with the number-one seed in the Class 3A-East Section II regional and earned a first-round bye.
The Seahawks will face the winner of the first round game between fourth-seeded Hammond and fifth-seeded Bennett. If Bennett prevailed, it wold mark the third meeting between the Seahawks and the Clippers this season and the results of the first two went decidedly in the favor of Decatur. The Seahawks beat the Clippers 67-17 in early January and beat Bennett again, 79-23, on February 9.
Atholton is the second-seed in the 3A-East Section II regional and will face the winner of the first-round game between third-seeded Chesapeake and sixth-seeded Northeast. Glenelg is the top seed in the 3A-East Section I regional, but Decatur is the top seed overall. As long as the Seahawks continue winning, they would remain home until the 3A-East regional final and a possible state championship. While Wednesday’s postponement of the Bayside Conference championship briefly stalled the Seahawks’ momentum, the path to a state regional title and potential state championship remains right in front of them.