DECATUR -- An eerie calm filled the air at Lloyd Peterson Gym in Decatur Jan. 30. The only sounds were the heating systems, no human presence in sight. This was a far cry from the events of Jan. 28 when the Decatur varsity boys played Union Christian.
The last 12.7 seconds of the game were the most exciting at Peterson Gym all season. From the opening tip off the Bulldogs were on fire. However, Union Christian was no pushover, they stayed close to the Bulldogs through the end of the first half, trailing Decatur 30 to 28.
In the third period, Decatur extended its lead as much as 10 points. Then the Eagles mounted a rally and whittled the Bulldog lead down to one point with two minutes left.
Decatur continued to dominate in the fourth period, never relinquishing the lead. Both teams fought hard, answering bucket for bucket. Then came the infamous 12.7 seconds.
With 15 seconds on the clock, Decatur had a one-point lead. They had a chance to cinch the game with a two-point jumper, which hit the rim and was recovered by the Eagles. The Eagles drove the ball down court and ran into a strong Decatur defense, forcing an Eagle time out with 12.7 seconds showing on the clock.
When the game resumed, the Eagles tried to inbound the ball against a strong Bulldog defense. The ball was finally inbound and was promptly knocked back out of bounds, 12.7 seconds still showing on the clock. The Eagles tried a second time and managed to get the ball just past center court.
An Eagle player started driving to the basket for a lay up and the winning shot. As the player entered the top of the key, Trey Kell, Decatur guard, stepped in front, forcing the Eagle player into a wall of two Decatur players, Allen Castaneda and Meng Vang, and a Union Christian player. This forced a pass outside with six seconds left. At this point, the tension was mounting and very few Decatur spectators were breathing.
As an Eagle player shot from the corner, Allen Castaneda positioned himself for a block and went airborne. Union Christian shot the ball from 3-point land. Time stopped as the ball sailed through the air and over the basket. Before the Eagles could recover, the game was over and Decatur won 55 to 54.
"I felt like we really controlled the tempo in this game. We let one of their guys loose a few too many times on the defensive end, but our offensive transition was hard for them to stop. Honestly, we just had to out score them to win the game and we did," John Unger, Decatur's head basketball coach, stated. "Our guards did a good job on their guards, and Mario was able to score for us inside. When we get all of our guys contributing, we are hard to beat and tonight we had that. Victor Urquidi, Trey Kell and Pheng Lee did a good job for us on the perimeter. Union beat us at their place earlier in the year and we felt like we could have won that game. We prepared better this time around and came out on top."
Leading scorer for the Bulldogs was Mario Urquidi with 24 points and 18 rebounds (another double-double). Other Bulldogs scoring included Victor Urquidi with 18, Trey Kell with 6, Kyle Shaffer and Meng Vang each with 4 and Terry Kell with 3.
The Decatur Bulldogs varsity boys played Johnson County Westside at home on Jan. 30. The Bulldogs struck first blood, scoring two minutes into the contest. From that point on it was all Bulldogs. At game's end, Decatur defeated Westside, 66 to 44.
Leading scorers for Decatur were Mario Urquidi with 20 points, Terry Kell with 13 and Meng Vang with 10. Other Bulldogs scoring points included Victor Urquidi with 8, Kyle Shaffer with 6, Pheng Lee with 5 and Trey Kell with 4.
Decatur's next game was on the road, taking on the Hartford Hustlers. Decatur defeated Hartford, 43 to 33. Leading scorer for the Bulldogs was Mario Urquidi with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Other Decatur players scoring included Victor Urquidi with 6, Terry Kell, Pheng Lee, Kyle Shaffer and Meng Vang, all with 4 .
The Decatur varsity boys improved their record to 9 and 8 overall and 7 and 2 in conference play.
"This is our first win at Hartford since I've been the head coach here and these guys really enjoyed winning this one," Unger stated. "We are starting to play our best basketball of the season just at the right time. We will keep working towards our goal of making the state tournament and play each game as if its a championship game."
GIRLS
Decatur 31
Hartford 29
The varsity girls defeated Hartford 31 to 29 in their second victory this season. Brittany Frost shot the game-winning bucket with two seconds remaining on the clock. Hannah Ramsey was leading scorer with 12.
Junior High
Junior high girls: Magazine 37, Decatur 14; Union Christian 20, Decatur 5; Hartford 37, Decatur 4.
Junior high boys: Magazine 39, Decatur 30; Union Christian 31, Decatur 22; Decatur 30, Hartford 27.
The junior high boys are 6 and 6 in conference play this season.
Check out the Decatur School District website at www.decatursd.com for upcoming games.
Sports on 02/05/2014