Underdogs? Decatur Central flying high after Hawks win 4A regional championship
· Yahoo Sports
The buzzer had not yet sounded on Decatur Central’s first regional championship in program history on Saturday night when the Hawks’ fans stood and let themselves be heard through Southport Fieldhouse.
When it was over a few minutes later, many of those same fans erupted in cheers as the coach who brought them there, Bryan Surber, climbed the ladder to cut his piece of the net after Decatur Central defeated Lawrence Central 73-60 for the Class 4A regional championship.
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“When we play together, we’re pretty good,” said Surber, a Decatur Central graduate who spent the entirety of his coaching career, first as an assistant and then head coach for five years, at his alma mater.
A week after the Hawks won their first sectional title in 21 years, they took it a step further.
“It feels amazing,” Decatur Central senior Elyas Zapata said. “We came in here wanting to win and we did it. We came together as a team and when everything came down to a struggle, we stuck together as a team. It’s amazing.”
The Hawks (20-6) will find out their semistate location and opponent on Sunday at 2 p.m. when the Indiana High School Athletic Association unveils the pairings. The other three 4A south teams – No. 4 Mt. Vernon, No. 7 Terre Haute North and No. 9 New Albany – are ranked in the top-10.
But that underdog role seems to suit the Hawks just fine. There probably were not many people who expected Decatur Central to defeat Lawrence Central after the Bears upset Lawrence North 70-57 last week for the sectional championship.
“No pressure,” Decatur Central junior guard Devin Colbert Jr. said.
Colbert Jr., nicknamed “D-1” for his first name and his number since about age 4, turned up the pressure on the Bears early in the regional. The 5-9 Colbert scored six points in the first quarter and had 11 by halftime to stake the Hawks to a 33-27 lead.
“My staff always jokes about how I love little guards,” Lawrence Central coach Phil Washington said. “Like, ‘If it was up to Phil, he’d have five little guards out there playing.’ Now they see why. If a guard can dribble, pass and shoot like he did, you can control the game. Today, he did a great job controlling that game.”
Colbert battled foul trouble, though, and had to leave the game after picking up his fourth foul with 2:24 left in the third quarter and his team clinging to a five-point lead. Lawrence Central cut the lead to one point, but a big 3-pointer by Makeil Baker helped the Hawks push the lead back to six.
Lawrence Central pulled as close as 62-57 with 1:45 remaining. Enter Colbert.
The diminutive guard went coast-to-coast, pulling up for an elbow jumper to push the lead back to seven. On the next possession, after a taking a pass from Nash Sigmund, Colbert attacked the basket again and scored over Lawrence Central defender to push the lead to nine.
Colbert finished with a team-high 16 points, leading four Hawks in double figures. Baker added 15 points, Zapata had 14 and Michael Norton 10. Colbert’s contributions went beyond his scoring.
“We knew Devin would be able to one-man break their 1-2-2 press,” Surber said. “When he did that early, it pulled them out of it. Everybody that I talked to prior to this game, everybody talked about their 1-2-2 press. We got them out of it, so that helped.”
Surber also singled out the 6-6 Norton’s effort protecting the rim against the taller Bears. Jeremiah Bellamy, who led Lawrence Central with 19 points in the win over Lawrence North, finished with 16 points to lead the Bears. D.J. Summers added 12 points.
“I’m super proud of (Norton),” Surber said. “He’s been recovering from an ankle injury and he’s been back since the tournament started. Kudos to him. He hit some timely shots, too. He played well.”
Washington said he felt the week of practice for Lawrence Central “wasn’t as sharp as it was last week.”
“They played their heart out and they played with purpose,” Washington said of the Hawks. “I’m very upset that we lost the game, but I know we got beat by the team that was ready for us. They play with heart. They got after it. In certain 50-50 plays, they wanted it more. I think we have one of the most talented teams in the state, but that talent has to show up every day.”
According to the rankings, there will be more talented teams in Decatur Central’s path in the semistate. But if the underdog role fits …
“I think we’re going to win it,” Sigmund said. “I think we’re going to win next week, too.”
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.Get IndyStar's high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter. And be sure to subscribe to our new IndyStarTV: Preps YouTube channel.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA basketball: Decatur Central defeats Lawrence Central for regional