Page 46 The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch December 13, 2013 Sports In The News Decatur Girls Off To Fast Start Easy Wins Set Early Expectations By SHAWN J. SOPER SPORTS EDITOR Seahawks FinishStrong At War On Shore BERLIN – Stephen Decatur’s girls’ varsity basketball team is off to a fast start in the 2013-2014 campaign after sweeping its first two games of the regular season last week. The Seahawks beat North Caroline in the season opener last Thursday, 74-31. Decatur got out to a quick start and led 23-7 after one quarter. The Seahawks extended the lead to 34-18 at the intermission. North Caroline played the Seahawks fairly close in the third, but Decatur put together a 23-4 fourth quarter to pull away for the 74-31 win. Decatur was back in action on Friday against Crisfield and cruised past the Crabbers, 66-31. Dayona Godwin led the Seahawks with 22 points, while Erin Florek added 15 points. Lexi Van Kirk contributed with nine rebounds in the game. Seahawks Split First Two Games By SHAWN J. SOPER SPORTS EDITOR Decatur’s Andy McKahan prepares to start a match during last week’s 12th Annual War on the Shore wrestling tournament. McKahan swept three matches to reach the championship in the 113-pound class, but fell in the title bout to earn second place. Photo by Earl Campbell BERLIN – Decatur’s boys’ varsity basketball team split its first two games of the season, beating North Caroline, 71-63, on the road last Thursday before falling to Crisfield in the home opener on Friday. The Seahawks traveled to North Caroline for the first game of the season for both teams last Thursday and returned with a 71-63 win. Back in action on Friday for the home opener, Decatur fell to Crisfield, 75-70. The Crabbers got out to an early lead as Decatur got in foul trouble from the start. Decatur continued to chip away and cut the lead to 58-54 at one point in the second half. However, Crisfield shot lights out down the stretch and steadily pulled away from the Seahawks. Decatur fouled Crisfield often late in the fourth, but the Crabbers shot poorly from the free throw line, which kept the Seahawks in the contest. P.J. Copes led Decatur with 15 points, while Rodney DuPont and Colin Gaynor each scored 14. Tyler Hunter scored 12 points, while Kyon Eley scored 11 and grabbed 10 rebounds. The Seahawks face Wicomico at home this evening. By SHAWN J. SOPER SPORTS EDITOR BERLIN – Stephen Decatur’s varsity wrestling team made a strong showing at its own 12th Annual War on the Shore tournament last weekend, finishing fourth overall in the impressive field and placing several individual wrestlers in their respective weight classes. The War on the Shore, hosted by Decatur for the last 12 years, features some of the best high school wrestling programs in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia each year and this year’s field was impressive as ever with some of the top programs in the region represented. The tournament was held last Friday and Saturday at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center. Representing Maryland in the tournament last weekend were host Stephen Decatur, Archbishop Curley, Gonzaga, Huntingtown, Mount Saint Joseph, Severna Park and St. Mary’s Ryken. Delaware will be represented by Caravel Academy, Middletown, Salesianum, Sussex Tech and Sussex Central. Representing Virginia in the 12th War on the Shore last weekend will be Hickory, Hylton, New Kent, Northampton and Stafford. Avella and Fr. Judge will represent Pennsylvania in the tournament, while West Virginia will be represented by Wheeling Park. Perennial powerhouse Mount Saint Joseph finished first overall with 176.50 team points. Fr. Judge was second with 166 points, followed by New Kent with 138. Decatur finished in fourth as a team with 127 points, representing its best finish in recent memory. Last year, the Seahawks finished 11th as a team. The Seahawks were buoyed by several strong individual performances as 10 Decatur wrestlers placed in their respective classes. At 113, Andy McKahan swept three matches to reach the championship, but fell to Sussex Tech’s Juwan Massey in the title bout to place second in the weight class. At 126, Nate Rosenblatt, who won the championship at 113 last year at the War on the Shore, won two matches to reach the championship. Rosenblatt fell to Hickory’s Caleb Corbett in the title bout to finish second. At 152, Decatur’s Nick Bennett swept three early round matches to reach the championship, but fell to Fr. Judge’s Vickson Krah in the title bout and finished second. In the 285-pound class, Decatur’s Caleb Massey lost his first bout, but put together three straight wins to take third place. At 106, Robert Kaminski lost two matches, but won three others to take fifth place in the division. At 120, T.J. Scafone won three and lost two on his way to a sixth place finish. At 160, Andrew Borradaile won three and lost two and also finished sixth in his weight class. Three Decatur wrestlers, including Joseph Rodriguez (132), Brett Kim (170), and Marwan Saleh (195), placed eighth in their respective weight divisions. Worcester Boys Rout Greenwood, 60-36 By SHAWN J. SOPER SPORTS EDITOR BERLIN – Worcester Prep’s boys’ varsity basketball team rebounded from its first loss of the season last week with a resounding 60-36 win over Greenwood Mennonite to improve to 2-1 in the early season. The Mallards beat Gunston, 6824, in the season opener back on Nov. 22 but fell to Salisbury Christian, 51-49, in a tight ESIAC battle on the road last Tuesday. Back in action last Thursday, the Worcester boys rebounded nicely from that first setback and cruised past Greenwood Mennonite, 60-36. Jack Marshall led Worcester with 15 points, while Tate Shockley added 11. The win improved Worcester’s record to 2-1 early, but the Mallards have a flurry of games just before the holiday break. Worcester gets a rematch with Greenwood on the road this afternoon, and then finishes the early part of the schedule with a home game against Holly Grove on Monday followed by a road game with Chincoteague next Wednesday. Mallards Dominating In Two Wins By SHAWN J. SOPER SPORTS EDITOR BERLIN – It’s been feast or famine for the Worcester Prep girls’ varsity basketball team thus far early in the season after the Mallards routed Greenwood, 60-8, at home last Thursday. The Mallards have scored in big bunches in their two wins thus far this season, which have been bookended around their only loss in the 2013-2014 campaign. In the season opener on at home at Gunston back on Nov. 25, the Mallards routed the Herons, 56-2. On Dec. 3, the Wor- cester girls fell in a tight, well-played, low-scoring game to Salisbury Christian, 28-27. Back in action last Thursday, the Mallards blasted Greenwood, 60-8. In their two wins thus far, the Worcester girls have outscored their opponents by a combined 116-10. The Worcester girls face Greenwood again on the road this afternoon and will wrap up the first part of the season before the holiday break with three games next week including Holly Grove at home on Monday, Chincoteague away on Wednesday and Saints Peter and Paul at home next Thursday.