Decatur’s Season Ends In Heartbreak In State Title
It was as close as you can come to winning a title, and that’s what made it hurt the most. The Stephen Decatur boys basketball team had their season end in heartbreak Saturday when they fell to C.M. Wright in overtime 51-49.
The Seahawks came out of the games cold from the floor, but so did the Mustangs. Torrey Brittingham would score a transition lay in to give the Seahawks a 6-4 lead before the Mustangs would hit a 3 pointer just before the buzzer to take a 1 point lead to the second. There, both teams offenses would get going. Keve Aluma would be able to add a couple baskets in the paint, while Ja’Quan Johnson would hit a couple mid range jumpers, while getting out in transition for easy scores. That would help Decatur pull in front by 2 at the half. The Mustangs then would find their stroke from beyond the arc, on top of earning a couple trips to the line to pull back out in front. Decatur then would get a bucket from Darion McKenzie to get within 2. Shortly after that, Johnson would drill a short baseline jumper for 2 more of his 14 points to tie up the game. Decatur would get a stop and have a chance to win it at the buzzer in regulation. They would run the clock down, then swing the ball around where McKenzie would have a good look, but it would be off back iron, no good.
We would head to overtime where McKenzie would immediately hit a corner 3 ball to give his team the lead. After the Mustangs would hit a 3 of their own to tie up the game, the teams would exchange free throws to again find themselves knotted at 49-49 with 30 seconds to play. Decatur would call time out and set up their play where Brittingham would start to kill the clock at the top of the key. As the senior began to make his move, Chris Lourenzo would come up with a steal, and take it the other way where he laid it in with 6 seconds left. Decatur would fly the ball up the court, and throw a lob to McKenzie with just seconds left. He wouldn’t be able to handle it though, and time would expire. Coach Johnson stressed that even though the final score wasn’t what they wanted, that the team should be proud of their performance and that they made their families and city proud.
