Decatur girls’ miraculous comeback falls short at hands of Lincoln

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, February 17, 2026

The first round of the 3A West Central District tournament couldn’t have gotten off to a better start.

The matchup between the No. 8 seeded Decatur Gators (12-8) and No. 9 Lincoln Abes (8-10) lived up to its billing.

Playing in front of a loud home crowd with their season on the line, the Decatur girls basketball team delivered one of their grittiest performances of the year. Despite a furious second-half comeback, clutch shot-making, and four players in double figures, the Gators’ postseason run was cut short in a 69-65 loss to the Abes.

For Decatur head coach Morris Anderson, the loss hurt, but the message he delivered postgame stretched beyond basketball.

“I just said, besides the sport of basketball, in life just being prepared,” Anderson said. “Being young women, just knowing their worth, having that confidence, on the court or off the court. Whatever they do, just to have that confidence in themselves and prepare.”

Both teams came out firing to start the game. After a short Lincoln run, Decatur put up 20 points in the first quarter, seven from freshman guard Avaieya Sinclair and eight from senior guard Leilah Mulivai-Tobin.

Decatur’s hot streak carried into the second quarter. Senior guard Jayda Thomas drilled an early three and Sinclair followed with a bucket to extend the Gator lead to 25-14.

But the Decatur early success was short-lived. Lincoln responded with a hot streak of its own. Lincoln’s 6-foot-4 superstar and University of Tennessee commit Oliviyah Edwards took over on both ends of the court. Even triple-teams from the Gators couldn’t slow her down. The Abes also punished Decatur on the glass, grabbing second-chance buckets that flipped the momentum.

Lincoln outscored Decatur 24-8 over the final five minutes of the half and entered the break up 38-33.

“We struggled with that,” Anderson admitted. “With a player like Oliviyah Edwards, her caliber and her height, we struggled with boxing out and giving them second-chance points.”

Despite the tough end to the half, Anderson did what he’s done all season. He reminded his team of who they are and told them to keep their energy up. Senior captain Iyanna Waltar echoed this sentiment.

“I’m just trying to keep everybody up in high spirits. If they need someone to look to, I’m there,” Waltar said. “My reactions come first, so if they see me down, then it’s trickle down to the rest of the team.”

Still, the third quarter didn’t start well for the Gators. Just three minutes in, Lincoln had stretched its lead to its largest of the night, 51-36.

But then Decatur flipped the game, again.

Thanks to some key defensive stops and clean rebounding, Decatur fueled a 12-0 run to close the quarter. By the time the fourth quarter began, Decatur had cut its deficit to 51-48.

“It’s a game of runs. We went on our run, they came back,” Anderson said. “I think we had a little stretch too, where we couldn’t make any shots and we didn’t really defend either. But then we came back again.”

Moments later in the fourth, the Gators seized their first lead since early in the second quarter. With six minutes remaining in the game, Decatur was up 54-51. The crowd started to get into it, erupting with every made Decatur basket.

“We didn’t show no quit. We fought right back into it, which is great. That’s what we want to see. We want to give our fans a good game,” Anderson said.

Sinclair, who all season has shown her poise beyond her years, scored eight points in the period. The Gators kept hustling and selling out for steals. Both teams traded baskets in the final minutes. Down 63-60 with two minutes left, Decatur lost Mulivai-Tobin to an injury as she dove for a loose ball. Without one of their best shot creators and defenders, the Gators struggled to find answers against Lincoln’s tightened defense.

“Us seniors, we’ve played together for at least nine or eight years, so there were a lot of emotions coming through that,” Waltar said. “Not wanting to go down like this at home, the injuries and knowing that we were just right there, it’s sad.”

Sophomore Autumn Glover hit a clutch three to cut the deficit to 67-63 with 40 seconds left. Still, there just wasn’t enough time. The Gators scored once more in the closing seconds, but Lincoln finished off the game and ended Decatur’s season, 69-65.

Edwards had a game-high 36 points for the Abes. The Gators had four players in double digits; Sinclair led with 21, Thomas had 13, Glover had 12, and Mulivai-Tobin had 10.

“It was a good season for us. We played all year to get us prepared for this moment right here,” Anderson said. “Now we just got to continue to introduce tradition. We got to get back to the gym, start grinding for next year.”