Lake View Boys’ Breakthrough Season Ended by No. 18 Decatur

ABILENE, TX — Coming off its first playoff win in 26 years, the San Angelo Lake View boys basketball team had momentum on its side Friday against No. 18-ranked Decatur.

But Decatur stole that momentum from the opening tip.

The Eagles raced out to a 12-0 lead and led 22-5 by the end of the first quarter.

Lake View never recovered in a 79-46 loss that ended the Chiefs’ season in the area round of the Class 4A Division I playoffs.

Decatur’s all-state guard, Javen Colbert, scored 32 points to lead the Eagles, who improved their record to 28-8 and advanced to the regional semifinals next week against Canyon West Plains.

Lake View’s season, which included a third-place finish in district before a first-round playoff win over Stephenville, ended with a record of 15-17.

“First off, tip of the hat to Lake View. Coach (Courtney Bliskey) and those boys have turned it around. They’ve got that program on the up the last couple of years,” Decatur head coach Rob Yeatts said.

“It was a dream come true to start like that. Traveling three hours for a bus ride, high school kids aren’t used to that. Then you get off the bus, have a little shootaround and play. So you worry about bus lag, but our guys came out ready to play.”

After the rough start, Lake View recovered and played with Decatur most of the next two quarters.

The Chiefs trailed 33-16 at halftime, and they got as close as 39-24 in the third quarter after back-to-back 3-pointers by Joseph Delgado.

Decatur immediately responded with a 10-0 run, however, to put the game out of reach. The Eagles took a 52-29 lead into the fourth quarter.

“I thought we had a decent enough game plan going in,” Bliskey said. “We had two full practices to try and knock it out, and the energy was along the lines of the practices we had before Stephenville, so I felt good about that.

“But not scoring early has kind of been our Achilles heel all season, and it was too tough a hole to climb out of.”

Lake View was led by Delgado with 12 points. He was one of five seniors, along with Landon Steele, Julius Perez, Marcus Finch and Jaiden Salas.

Junior Braylon White, who had 11 points, will lead next year’s returners.

Decatur's Adan Gonzalez had 15 points, while Brayden Shook added 11.

The Eagles' 6-foot-2 point guard, Colbert, has scored more points than any player in Texas this season. He's averaging 32.7 points per game.

"He's been special for us all year," Yeatts said. "He's the leading scorer in Texas, but more importantly, he shares the ball as well. He leads us in assists and he leads us in guarding the other team's best player."

Bliskey said he has coached some other memorable Lake View teams, including ones led by Tim Aguero and Brandell Collins, but this year's group has earned its place in the discussion.

"As far as coaching UIL ball, this might be the best team I've ever coached," Bliskey said. "They were a strong team. They were bonded and they were family."