Magazine mercy-rules Decatur

— Magazine took care of business and moved within one win of advancing to regionals with a 70-45 mercy-rule win against Decatur on Feb. 15 in the first round of the 2A-4 District Tournament.

Decatur ended its season with a 4-19 mark.

After a close first quarter that saw Decatur take a lead behind the scoring of Eric Thompson, it was all Magazine after that until the mercy rule was invoked to start the fourth quarter.

“We played just like we drew it up in the first quarter,” Decatur coach Donnie Smith said. “But when we got into foul trouble in the second quarter, we had to play some young guys who haven’t faced this kind of pressure.”

Thompson led Decatur with 16 points and Hunter Beal added 11.

Sports, Pages 8 on 02/24/2010