Basketball Recap: Elyas Zapata's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Decatur Central over Southport

It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Decatur Central can now relate to. They fell 61-52 to the Southport Cardinals on Tuesday. Unfortunately, that's the second time they've come up short against the Cardinals this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 41-38 back in February.

Several Hawks players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Elyas Zapata, who posted 11 points. Makeil Baker was another key player, putting up nine points.

Jack Turner had an outrageously good game for Southport as he dropped a double-double with 21 points and ten rebounds. The dominant performance gave Turner a new career-high in boards. Another player making a difference was James Kalala, who dropped a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Decatur Central has traveled a rocky road recently, having lost seven of their last nine matchups. That's put a noticeable dent in their 7-16 record this season. Southport now has a winning record of 12-11.

Decatur Central does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Southport, they will challenge Franklin Central at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Southport's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last three contests.