DECATUR -- The Decatur senior boys' basketball team won two games against class 1A Kingston Yellowjackets on Dec. 16 and the class 3A Mansfield Tigers on Dec. 17.
Both the Decatur senior boys' and girls' teams traveled to Kingston to take on the Yellowjackets on Monday night. The Lady Bulldogs, facing one of the toughest teams in class 1A, lost their game 56-19.
In the boys' game, the Bulldogs struggled against the Yellowjackets, going into half time down by nine.
In the second half, Decatur came out strong, overtaking Kingston to win 39 to 35
"We showed great fight to overcome a 9-point half time deficit," Coach Unger stated. "I thought our team matured the second half and learned how to handle adversity. That is a great quality to have to be able to do that during the game. We made the correct adjustments at half and we started to execute on offense and the end result was a great win against a very quality Kingston team."
Leading scorer for Decatur continues to be Mario Urquidi, with 18 points, 17 rebounds. Others scoring points for the Bulldogs included Terry Kell with 10 points, Meng Vang with 9, and Trey Kell with 2.
"This is a great win for our young team to build off of and we will continue to work extremely hard and get ready for conference," Unger said.
The Bulldogs next took on class 3A Mansfield Tigers on Dec. 18 at Lloyd Peterson Gym in Decatur.
The first two minutes of the game were scoreless, with good defensive play by both teams. But, ultimately, the Bulldogs put the first points on the board. From that point on, Decatur dominated the game, taking a 15-point lead into half time.
The second half, both teams continued to play well. However, Mansfield mounted a drive that would pull the Tigers within four with a minute to play in the fourth period.
Contributing to the Tigers' drive was the loss of Mario Urquidi, Decatur's powerhouse, who committed his fifth foul, sending him to the bench.
With a minute to play in the game, while driving to the basket, Decatur Bulldog Victor Urquidi was struck in the head and neck by a Mansfield player. One official called a technical on the Mansfield player for intentional hitting. This sent Urquidi to the line.
While Urquidi stood at the free throw line, the head official over-ruled the original call. The two officials met at half-court to discuss the call. The head official's ruling prevailed and Urquidi got a one-and-one free throw.
Decatur head couch, John Unger, was then charged with a technical by the official that made the original intentional hit call.
After Urquidi missed both shots, Mansfield had a chance for three points on the technical call. The Tigers' player made all three shots, making it a one point Bulldog game. Mansfield could not capitalize on this opportunity and Decatur won the game, 37 to 36.
"I was only trying to defend my player," Unger said, following the game. "I didn't say anything that warranted the call."
"This was a great win for our program at Decatur," Unger said. "I'm not sure the last time Decatur beat a 3A team, so that says a lot for this year's team and the path we are on. Mansfield did a great job inside on defense and baskets were hard to come by, but we kept plugging away and ended up coming out on top. I thought our guards played well and took care of the ball the way they are supposed to; and Mario, Meng, Victor and Kyle did a good job on the inside on the defensive end."
Leading the stats in the Mansfield game was Mario Urquidi with 12 points, 11 rebounds, 9 defensive rebounds, and 2 assists. Other Bulldogs in the scoring column included Trey Kell with 9, Terry Kell with 6, Victor Urquidi with 5, Menv Vanq with 4, and Kyle Shaffer with 1.
Sports on 12/25/2013