Easy Win and Encouraging Defeat for DHS Boys

The Decatur High School boys basketball team encountered two teams on the opposite ends of the talent spectrum over the weekend.

Not unexpectedly, the Bulldogs manhandled Cross Keys High -- with a student body representing dozens of nationalities, many of them barely familiar with the sport -- 54-26 Friday night at the DHS gym.

Just as predictably, they bowed Saturday 61-43 at South Atlanta High, the state's No. 2 Class AA team that features a University of Alabama signee, a sublime supporting cast and enough height to stare directly into the eyes of most major college squads.

The split decision left DHS at 14-6 overall and 3-3 in Region 6 play, with a significant game at Buford High looming Tuesday night. The Bulldogs hold third in their division, one rung below Buford.

On Friday, the DHS boys drew either from pink power or the realization they were digging themselves into a crater each game with unproductive starts. The Bulldogs nailed their first three shots to leap ahead 7-0 and were never endangered as coach Charlie Copp found no need to call a timeout.

Pink power?

Signing on for the Coaches vs. Cancer weekend, a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the basketball coaches association, the Bulldogs wore pink T-shirts under their jerseys and pink laces in their shoes. Cross Keys (5-10) also was thinking pink, but any impact the sartorial switch had on shooting was limited to the Bulldogs.

DHS was accurate on more than half (52 percent) of their two-pointers, and the three-point rate (6 of 16, 37 percent) was acceptable.

Trumon Jefferson assumed his usual place in front of the DHS scoring line with 19 points, including one three-pointer that he followed seconds later with an out-of-nowhere blocked shot. B.J. Fisher scored 10 as Copp substituted heavily in part to keep players fresh for the South Atlanta game.

The Bulldogs carried over their newfound knack for getting of the box quickly to Saturday, leading 13-12 after one period. Jefferson, perhaps because of a haircut before tip-off, was especially light on his feet, skying for baskets at one end and rebounds at the other.

Two early fouls by point guard Kurt Robinson, a rebounding fiend, saddled him on the bench for most of the half, and the Hornets cruised ahead 27-21 at the break. The once-beaten home team, anchored by 6-foot-9 Nick Jacobs, seemed out of the woods.

But DHS dragged the Hornets back in, opening the second half with six points to pull even. South Atlanta stayed within reach of DHS before drawing away in the final few minutes, resulting in a final score that hid the closeness of the game.

The Bama-bound Jacobs was restricted to 14 points, primarily by fearless defense from Jacob Fortenberry. The 6-7 Dominique McKoy was more lethal, scoring 19.

Jefferson, brilliant in the first three quarters, wound up with 23 points. He tired noticeably in the high-intensity game, made so by South Atlanta's press and hardhat-requiring banging on the boards. Fisher followed with 11 points.

The outcome fell short of a moral victory for the Bulldogs but imbued them with the confidence that they can hang with a high-powered foe.

The DHS girls team, ranked 10th in Class AA,  dealt themselves a pair of lopsided wins, though one came far easier than the other.

The Bulldogs, the second act at their gym on Coaches Vs. Cancer night, unloaded on Cross Keys 74-10 as the irrepressible Queen Alford cut loose for 48 points. She would have eclipsed 50, if not for seven missed free throws in eight tries. Shan Rivers scored a dozen.

At South Atlanta, sporting pink shoestrings for the second straight night, they were dead-level with the Hornets through two periods. At halftime, coach Bill Roberts exhorted his team to play more physically, particularly on defense, and the Bulldogs took heed. Final score: 64-38.

Alford was the Queen for yet another day scoring 31, while Sara Payne had 10. 

Now the DHS girls (16-4, 4-2) find out what it is like to tangle with a second-ranked team. No. 2 Buford awaits Tuesday at its gym.