DECATUR — The Bulldogs basketball season ended on a bittersweet note with a 59-49 loss to Conway Christian during a 2A West region tournament game in Magazine on Friday.
The Bulldogs won the 4-2A conference championship and had the best season in recent history, with a conference record of 13-1 and a overall record of 21-6.
However, Friday’s loss to Conway Christian ended Decatur’s chances to advance to the state tournament.
“I thought we did some things really well,” said John Unger, Decatur’s coach and athletic director. “Conway Christian was much more mature than us. They were older and much bigger than what we’ve seen.”
The Bulldogs were down 14 points at halftime and were able to cut it to 6 points with two minutes on the clock, Unger said. Decatur had the ball, then turned it over, allowing Conway Christian to score.
“We played extremely hard, we just couldn’t get the shots to fall. I was really proud of the guys’ effort,” Unger said.
Decatur sophomore Mario Urquidi led the scoring for the Bulldogs with 18 points - 10 of which were in the fourth quarter. Senior Dakota Pitcher scored a total of 15 points, with 12 in the first half.
Brandon Helms scored 15 points for the Conway Christian Eagles. Mark Belvardi added 12, and Caleb Dather 10, for Conway Christian.
Unger said that both he and the players learned some things from the loss in regional play which will help them make improvements next season.
Playing in the regional tournament was a great experience for the team and gave the younger players who will be back next year a chance to see what it’s like at the next step and see what it takes to win at that level, Unger said.
“It’s just another step in building a program, and that’s what we want to do here,” he said.
Sports, Pages 7 on 02/27/2013