Owens sets tone for Bulldogs

Decatur senior, forward Andrew Harris goes up for two against Union Christian Academy's Joel Murdock (41) and Braxton Smith (5) during play in the Lloyd Peterson Gymnasium at Decatur on Dec. 18.

Decatur senior, forward Andrew Harris goes up for two against Union Christian Academy's Joel Murdock (41) and Braxton Smith (5) during play in the Lloyd Peterson Gymnasium at Decatur on Dec. 18.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

— Evan Owens provided Decatur with some senior leadership Tuesday night in the Bulldogs 55-41 victory.

Senior Andrew Harris led Decatur (7-3, 1-0) with 17 points while Mario Urquidi was in double figures with 11. Owens finished with eight, but his first two shots set the tone in a game that saw the Bulldogs lead by 24 points in the fourth period.

“It felt good to hit some shots early and help us to get off to a good start,” Owens said. “I was feeling that my shot was on early in the game.”

Decatur coach John Unger said the first few minutes of the game set the tone for the night. Eleven different players scored for the Bulldogs.

“Anytime you hit your first three shots, and two of them are threes, that is a big spark,” Unger said. “We have a lot of weapons, and a deepbench. We have size and we can run up and down the court.”

Decatur led 30-9 at halftime and they used a 11-3 run to start the fourth period to pull away.

Union 6 3 14 18 - 41 Decatur 12 18 11 14 - 55 UNION (5-4, 2-1): A. Curtis 12, Scallion 7, T. Curtis 5, Callaway 5, Murdock 5, Broc. Smith 4, Bra. Smith 3. DECATUR (7-3, 1-0): Harris 17, M. Urquidi 11, Owens 8, Pitcher 5, Thor 3, Clay 2, Hare 2, Lee 2, Kell 2, V.

Urquidi 2, Castaneda 1.

GIRLS UNION CHRISTIAN 42 DECATUR 33

Bethany Brown scored 19 points and Mary Catherine Qualls added 15 as the Lady Eagles held off a late charge by the Lady Bulldogs.

Union Christian led 38-21 going to the fourth period but Decatur used a 8-0 run to cut the Lady Eagles lead to 38-29. Brown stopped the run with a pair of lay-ups as Union Christian (7-2, 3-0)remains prefect in conference play.

Hannah Ramsey led Decatur (2-8, 01) with 11 points, and the junior converted a three-point play during the fourth quarter run. Sophomore guard Sarah Harris added 10 points for the Lady Bulldogs.

The Lady Eagles were just 3-of-19 from the field in taking a 6-4 lead at the end of the first period. But Qualls and Brown combined for 15 points over a 3 minute, 45 span to give the Lady Eagles a 22-12 lead with 2:15 before half-time.

Union 6 16 16 4 - 42 Decatur 4 11 6 12 - 33 UNION (7-2, 3-0): Brown 19, Qualls 15, Flake 6, Warnock 2.

DECATUR (2-8, 0-1): Ramsey 11, Harris 10, Witcher 5, Yang 4, Frost 3.

This week the Bulldogs will compete in the Heber Springs Tournament. They will then face the Hackett Hornets in a conference game on Jan. 4.

Sports, Pages 9 on 12/26/2012