Balanced Effort Powers Seahawks To Regional Title

The Stephen Decatur girls basketball team lived to see another day as they fought and battled their way to a tough 61-54 win over Chesapeake in the 3A East Regional Semifinal on Thursday. The Seahawks advance and will now face Glenelg in the Regional Title on Saturday.

The Cougars would jump out to a quick lead in the first, using their height advantage in the post, scoring a couple quick easy baskets. Then as she has done all year, Dayona Godwin got the scoring started for the home team. She would get a couple tough baskets to drop in the post, then followed it up with a three ball to help bring her team even at 13-13. Chesapeake would finish the quarter with a free throw and lay in to take a 16-13 lead into the second quarter. There, foul trouble began to become an issue for Decatur. Lexie Van Kirk picked up her 2nd personal, while Rachel Florek would get tagged with her 3rd and have to take a seat. Still, the Seahawks continued to push as the hustle of Savanna Schultz would begin to turn the momentum. She was everywhere defensively, disrupting the Cougars offense while getting loose ball to spark the fast break. Florek would connect on back to back shots in the post to help Decatur grab a lead. The Cougars would then respond again, connecting on a couple buckets in the post again from Hallie Persell. Decatur would find themselves down 29-27 at the break. 

The Seahawks would come out firing in the 3rd quarter, again getting scores from Godwin as they would be able to grab a 43-38 lead headed to the 4th. There, fouls again threw off their rhythm as the Cougars would capitalize. Florek would get whistled for her 5th personal with under 6 minutes to go as the Cougars would tie up the game. That’s when Amaya Mumford took over. She scored bucket after big bucket in the post on her way to posting 16 points and 12 rebounds. They would have a 5 point lead late and be able to hit their free throws to close out the game for the win.