Decatur sophomore post Sayler Peck elevates for a shot near the basket in a 4A Division I area bout against No. 15 Frenship Memorial Friday at Stamford High School. The Lady Eagles (33-4) knocked out the Lady Panthers, 61-46. MICAH MCCARTNEY | WCMESSENER
The Decatur Lady Eagles faced their first test of the 2025-26 postseason against a second-year Frenship Memorial squad Friday in West Texas.
Trailing by 1 against a Lady Panther squad comprised of scrappy freshmen and sophomores, Decatur sophomore post Sayler Peck rose to the occasion with a team-high 16 points, as Decatur (33-4) used a 53-37 surge in the final three quarters to claim a 4A Division I area title in a 61-46 win at Stamford High School.
“That’s a good team we just played,” Decatur coach Drew Coffman said. “They’re very gritty, and I thought they played very hard. They have some good, talented kids, and I’m thankful they’ll be moving up to 5A next year. We’re lucky to get the win tonight. I thought our kids showed tremendous toughness, and that’s what it’s all about this time of year. We talked before the game about how the toughest team would win, and I think that was us.”
Memorial came out physical in the first quarter, shutting down Decatur’s offense except for Peck, who was responsible for all eight of the Lady Eagles’ points in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the Lady Panthers built up a 9-8 lead thanks to a 3-pointer from Zamiya Johnson Johnson, along with solo field goals by Zosia Storey, Adrianna Melhado and Keyanna Jones-Minor.
“I just feel like we were all kinds of nervous for the game,” Peck said. “We were ready for it, but we were still pretty nervous. [Memorial was] good, and they were ready, too. I felt like I needed to step up so that this wasn’t the last game we had with the seniors. I was not ready for that to happen. We want to go all the way back to state with them.”
Coach Coffman said a combination of Memorial’s toughness and Decatur’s mentality were contributing factors to the Lady Eagles’ first-quarter performance.
“Give Memorial credit because they had a lot to do with it, but I just thought we were maybe a little bit too excited,” he said. “When you guage your excitement for a game on a scale from 1 to 10, you want to be about a 6, but we were at a 12 — If you’re too excited, you don’t play well, but but you also have to be excited enough to play hard. We were all over the place and needed to settle down, and I thought we did that after the first quarter.”
Decatur put its slow start in the rear-view mirror, as senior guard Cece Davis ignited the offense with a pair of 3-pointers and seven total points during Decatur’s 18-9 swing in the second quarter. The Lady Eagles also capitalized on their opportunities at the free throw line, going 5-for-6 during the run to take a 26-18 advantage at halftime.
Davis finished second in scoring for Decatur with 11 points.
“Those shots really helped us to get back into the game, and helped us to get our offense going,” Davis said. “I really didn’t even think when I shot them — I just let the ball fly. Sayler did a great job getting her shots in the first quarter and keeping it close.”
As the physicality of the match intensified in the second half, Peck — one of the youngest players on Decatur’s 2024-25 4AI state championship roster — took the reins of the offense yet again. After being held scoreless in the second quarter, she tallied four more field goals in the third frame as the Lady Eagles increased their lead by 2 thanks to a 16-14 drive.
“I don’t know if there’s a tougher kid out there than [Sayler],” Coach Coffman said. “At this time of the year, those type of kids tend to shine. She’s shined in volleyball, and she shined for us tonight just like she did last year. We expected it from her because she’s done it many times., but her toughness was on another level tonight.”
A pair of shots from behind the arc by senior point guard Laken Coffman and a 5-point effort from sophomore guard Style Brazile in the final 8 minutes of the contest allowed Decatur to end Memorial’s second second as a program, as the Lady Eagles outscored the Lady Panthers 19-14.
With the win, Decatur draws Seminole in a top 10 4AI Region I semifinal bout, scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at Abilene Wylie High School.
The 10th-ranked Maidens (31-4) eliminated El Paso Irvin 74-23 in their area-round win. The champions of District 3-4A, Seminole opened the postseason with a 56-35 victory against Hereford.
En route to its first state championship, Decatur knocked out Seminole in the third round last season, 46-35.
“[Seminole’s] really good,” Coach Coffman said. “We had a battle against them last year, and we were lucky to win it. They shoot the ball so well, and they play with phenomenal pace. They’re coached by [Tri Danley] who has won [more than] 700 games, so they’ll be prepared and ready for us. They’re familiar with us, so it’s going to be another battle just like tonight was.”
Peck believes the Lady Eagles’ postseason hopes rest on the team’s chemistry and ability to put a complete game on the court.
“We just have to stay together, [and] we’ve got to put what we’re doing in practice into the game,” she said. “We also need to keep our communication up, and just put in the work for all 32 minutes of the game.”
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