BERLIN- Stephen Decatur’s boys’ varsity basketball team’s “unfinished business” season got its first real big test this week with rival Pocomoke at home on Tuesday and the Seahawks took care of business with a 89-57 rout.
Last year, the two county rivals split their regular season home and home matchups with Pocomoke beating Decatur at home in December and the Seahawks returning the favor in late January with a big win in Berlin. Both teams finished with identical 19-1 regular season records and the Bayside South championship came down to a coin toss won by the Warriors. Pocomoke went on to win the state 1A title, while the Seahawks lost at the last second in the state 3A championship, thus setting up the self-proclaimed “unfinished business” season for the Seahawks.
After Tuesday’s 89-57 rout of Pocomoke, the first of two matchups with the Warriors during the regular season, it appears the Seahawks are on track for another remarkable season in the conference and beyond. There will be other tough tests along the way, and there is always a possibility the Seahawks could come out flat and suffer a loss or two along the way, but if Pocomoke is the barometer with which Decatur measures itself early, then they certainly passed the test on Tuesday.
Decatur actually trailed early, falling behind Pocomoke by as many as seven points in the first quarter before cranking up the machine in front of the standing room only home crowd. During last year’s home game with Pocomoke late in the season, the crowd spilled over into the hallway as fans leaned in to catch a glimpse of the scoreboard. Just prior to last year’s game at Decatur, the Fire Marshal’s Office actually stopped allowing anyone else into the gym, and while that didn’t happen again on Tuesday, the crowd again spilled over into the concession area and hallways.
Decatur was trailing 15-9 about halfway through the first quarter on Tuesday before going on a big run to close out the period. The Seahawks turned up the pressure on the defensive end, which created scoring opportunities down the other end. Keve Aluma was dominating at times, crashing the boards and getting easy put-backs while heading to the line often. Nonetheless, Pocomoke led, 19-17, at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Decatur started with a 13-0 run to gain separation from the Warriors. Decatur led 30-19 before Pocomoke got back on the board with a free throw at the 4:30 mark in the second. Meanwhile, while Aluma kept doing his thing, the Seahawks got a big boost from freshman Churchill Bounds, who scored at least eight points during the stretch. Decatur outscored Pocomoke 27-7 during the second quarter and took a 44-26 lead into halftime.
Decatur kept the pressure up during throughout the second half and cruised to the 89-57 win. Aluma led the Seahawks with 28 points, while Gary Briddell added 20. Decatur’s record now stands at 3-0 on the season after other wins over Cambridge-South Dorchester and Colonel Richardson. The Seahawks will be back in action on Friday at Crisfield.