Decatur High’s boys played one of their better games in weeks Tuesday night, beating a much-improved Clarkston squad 63-48 before a small but fiesty crowd at the Spike.
Clarkston is now 7-10 and has its most competitive team in a decade. They beat Lovett by four points on Dec. 9. That same Lovett squad had manhandled Decatur (52-37) only three days earlier.
“Tonight was definitely encouraging,” Decatur coach Charlie Copp said. “We’ve typically had a good game followed by a poor game or two. Heading into the final month [of the regular season] we need to become more consistent, to start gaining momentum so we can put together a string of good games.”
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Decatur’s girls had no trouble thumping Clarkston 68-18 for their 15th win in 18 tries. Queen Alford had 18 points, Jordan Dillard 16 and the rapidly-improving Akilah Haynes added 12.
In polls that came out Tuesday, the Bulldogs are ranked eighth in the Georgia Prep Country AA Coaches Poll, and fifth in the state’s AP poll.
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The boys, who’ve played like a roller coaster all year, as their 8-10 record attests, were led by senior Xeric Kirk’s career-high 20 points. Kirk shot 6 for 9 from the field including 3 for 4 from three-point land.
The Bulldogs ran off the game’s first five points and never trailed, leading by as much as 47-25 with 2:09 left in the third quarter. Clarkston stepped up its full-court press in the fourth quarter, made several steals and sliced the score to 10 with 6:55 left in the game.
“That’s my biggest concern about tonight,” Copp said. “We didn’t handle pressure well, and that’s going to be critical as we head down the stretch. But other than that, we did a lot of things well.”
Including some their best shooting of the year, connecting on 25 of 39 shots for a season’s-best 64 percent. Sophomore Davante Meadows had 15 points and six rebounds, while point guard Kurt Robinson came within an eyelash of a dubious triple-double: nine points, nine rebounds and 10 turnovers.
But he also delivered three brilliant interior passes to Brett Riley, who was more aggressive then he’s been all season in establishing low-post position and demanding the ball while scoring a career-high 12 points.
Decatur plays South Atlanta at home Friday, the girls tipping off at 5:30 p.m. and the boys at 7 p.m.
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