BERLIN- Stephen Decatur’s boys’ varsity basketball team won a thriller on Wednesday, beating visiting Hammond, 70-68, in overtime to reach the state 3A-East region championship.
The Seahawks, seeded first in the 3A-East region Section II cruised past visiting Northeast, 93-54, on Monday to advance in the Section II bracket. Still smarting from a coin toss loss to Pocomoke for the Bayside South championship, the Decatur boys set their sights on a possible deep run in the 3A-East region playoffs and as the top seed would get to stay home for through the regional championship game provided they continued to advance.
On Monday, Northeast hung around with the deep and talented Seahawks for about half of the game before Decatur turned up its signature defense and out and eventually pulled away from the pesky Eagles. The win moved Decatur into the Section II final with another home game against Hammond on Wednesday in front of another packed house.
Hammond started the game strong, largely on the strength of four three-pointers early to take the lead in front of the anxious crowd. Decatur then turned up is signature defense and settled down. The press created turnovers, which led to easy scoring opportunities for the Seahawks.
Decatur took a narrow lead into halftime, but the game was shaping up to be a classic and the big home crowd was on their feet through much of the second half. The two teams went back and forth throughout the third quarter and into the fourth with neither getting any separation on the scoreboard.
Late in the fourth quarter, Decatur’s Torrey Brittingham was fouled and calmly converted two free throws to force a tie with the crowd on its feet. Hammond answered with a late basket to take a two-point lead with the clock running down, but Brittingham converted on a jumper to tie the game and force overtime.
The big crowd was on its feet at the start of the overtime period as the tension mounted. Brittingham picked up his fifth foul early in the overtime period, sending him to the bench and forcing his able teammates to pick up the slack. Kevon Voyles, now running the point for the Seahawks, got a good look with time running down and the scored tied in late in the overtime period, but the shot did not fall.
However, JaQuan Johnson grabbed the rebound and was fouled, sending him to the free throw line with 10 seconds remaining. With the big crowd quiet, Johnson calmy knocked down both shots to give Decatur a 70-68 lead. Hammond got one last chance to tie the game late, but the shot missed the mark, touching off a wild celebration for the Seahawk faithful. The overtime win propelled Decatur in the regional championship game at home on Friday against Centennial, the top seed in the 3A-East Section I bracket. The Seahawks will host the game at 5 p.m. on Friday.