The Decatur Lady Eagles (37-4) celebrate after defeating Waco La Vega 58-54 in overtime to claim the team’s second straight 4A Division I state title Friday at the Alamodome in San Antonio. BRENDAN MARCHAND | WCMESSENGER
The defending state champion Decatur Lady Eagles made their return to the Alamodome Friday night, and had to overcome their early mistakes in a 4A Division I state final rematch against No. 7 Waco La Vega.
Decatur committed 23 total turnovers, and trailed 41-35 entering the fourth quarter. The Lady Eagles then used 10-4 run in the middle of the frame to tie at 45, but La Vega answered by outscoring Decatur 7-5 to hold a 52-50 lead with 42 seconds left in regulation.
With their season on the line, senior post Bralyn Peck stepped up in her career finale. She knocked down a layup with 9 seconds left to force overtime and then scored twice in the team’s 6-2 run in the free period, allowing Decatur to escape with a 58-54 win — downing the Lady Pirates for the second year in a row to hoist the 4AI state title.
“We just kept telling ourselves to not give up,” Bralyn Peck said. “We all wanted to keep going.”
Bralyn Peck took home her second 4AI state tournament MVP honor, turning in a double-double effort in her last outing with 33 points and 12 rebounds. She also had two steals and one block.
The Lady Eagles finished 37-4, closing Decatur coach Drew Coffman’s fourth season on a 25-game win streak.
“I’m proud of the kids,” Decatur coach Drew Coffman said. “I don’t think we played our best, and I think [La Vega] frustrated us and bothered us. But we just kept talking and saying ‘Stay with it.’ Our big motto going into the game was to playing for 32 minutes. Even though it wasn’t the prettiest that we’ve played all year long, we just kept fighting and eventually found a way.”
After three straight misses by the Lady Pirates, Decatur sophomore guard Style Brazile pulled down a defensive rebound to allow Decatur coach Drew Coffman to call timeout with 9 seconds remaining in regulation. Brazile’s ensuing inbound lob pass dropped right into the hands of Bralyn Peck, allowing the Oklahoma State signee to knock down a fast break layup against La Vega’s Rih Kinsey to send the game into overtime.
“When they scooted us down to where that pass was going to be a little bit easier, I knew that [Bralyn] was going to catch it,” Brazile said. “I knew had to put it up there for her.”
Peck quickly put Decatur up by 2 with a layup in the free period, but the score was neutralized by a pair of free throws from La Vega’s CeMaria Kelly. Peck then added a short-range field goal two possessions later, while senior guard Laken Coffman — who missed the bulk of Decatur’s 2024 state title run after tearing her meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) — knocked down a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left to put Decatur ahead by 4.
“I didn’t get to play last year, so I really wanted to come out and give it my all,” Laken Coffman said. “We played a free throw game [Thursday], and I won $10 from it. So I had a lot of confidence from that game, knowing I could do it. When I went to the line, Bralyn was yelling, ‘Bring me home the gold!”, which let me know my teammates had confidence in me.”
Following the free throws, La Vega could not hit shots from the line in the final seconds. Kinsey failed to find the bucket on a field goal in the paint, while Kimora Harbert came up empty on her two shots at the charity stripe with 2 seconds left.
“We have a lot of respect for La Vega,” Coach Coffman said. “This is the second year in a row we’ve played them, and this is their fourth straight year to play in this game. They showed a lot of championship DNA tonight, as well.”
As Decatur and La Vega fought back and forth early, Bralyn Peck dropped nine points in the first quarter to give the Lady Eagles a 17-15 lead.
The Lady Pirates’ full court press defense caused problems for the Lady Eagles in the second quarter, causing six Decatur turnovers. Kelly started heating up offensively for La Vega, netting five points on the team’s 10-6 run to take a 25-23 lead into the locker room at halftime.
La Vega opened the scoring gap to 10 late in the third quarter, but Bralyn Peck outscored the Lady Pirates 6-2 by herself in the final minute of the frame to trim the deficit to six — 41-35.
Bralyn Peck did the bulk of her damage in Decatur’s 17-11 fourth-quarter run with 11 points. Senior guard Cece Davis also played a key role, knocking down a critical 3-pointer midway through the frame to keep the Lady Eagles alive.
Brazile finished second in scoring for Decatur with eight points, and had six assists, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Davis and Lake Coffman added six points each, while Sayler Peck and Maddyx Coffman scored four and one, respectively.
For La Vega, Kelly led the Lady Pirates’ with 22 points, along with seven steals, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Kinsey added 21 points and four steals.
“Basketball is a game of runs, [and the] basketball doesn’t always go the way you want it to,” La Vega coach Marcus Willis said. “We’ve been making free throws and layups all year, and somehow it didn’t end up falling our way… This one was personal, and we knew we were going to end up playing Decatur back in November. Our preparation wasn’t just for Decatur — it was for getting better every Tuesday and Friday night.”
This story will be updated.
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