Bulldogs drop games against Oaks Mission and Union Christian

Photo by Mike Eckels Bulldog guard, Trey Kell (#22), driving to the basket, loses control and the ball flies toward a Mission Oaks Warrior player as Kyle Shaffer (#30) also tries to recover the ball during the Jan. 2 match against Oaks Mission at Peterson Gym in Decatur. The Bulldogs were defeated by the Warriors, 39 to 36.
Photo by Mike Eckels Bulldog guard, Trey Kell (#22), driving to the basket, loses control and the ball flies toward a Mission Oaks Warrior player as Kyle Shaffer (#30) also tries to recover the ball during the Jan. 2 match against Oaks Mission at Peterson Gym in Decatur. The Bulldogs were defeated by the Warriors, 39 to 36.

DECATUR -- The beginning of the second half of the basketball season got off to a rough start for both the Decatur senior boys and girls on Jan. 2. Both teams lost to the Oaks Mission Warriors.

In the girls' games, the Lady Warriors got the first score on the board and, from that point on, they never looked back. They defeated the Lady Bulldogs 48 to 17.

At times the Lady Bulldogs played well defensively but could not get shots to go down. Girls' basketball coach, Bill Nivens, believes his team "will come together in the next few games."

In senior boys' action, the Decatur Bulldogs came out strong against the Oaks Mission Warriors on Jan 2 at home. The Bulldogs were the first to score at the seven minute mark in the first period. They ended the period with a 9 to 7 lead against the Warriors.

The second period was much the same. The Bulldogs scored 11 points to the Warriors' 9, ending the half with a 20 to 16 lead.

In the third period, Decatur continued to lead until the 5 minute, 16 second mark when Oaks Mission tied the game, 22 each. The game went back and forth until the last minute and a half of the period, when the Warriors took the lead. By the end of the third period, it was a 28 to 24, Oaks Mission game.

The Warriors continued to hold the lead throughout the fourth period. A last second shot by Allen Castaneda pulled the Bulldogs within one at the end of the game. The final score was 38 to 37, Oaks Mission.

"We did some good things early in the game and got to the basket for easy lay-ups," John Unger, Decatur head basketball coach, stated after the game. "We couldn't get the ball to go into the basket and, when that ball doesn't go in the basket, bad things happen. I felt we dominated the game in every aspect except for the one that mattered, the scoreboard."

Meng Vang lead the scoring for the Bulldogs with 11, followed by Mario Urquidi with 9. Other Bulldogs scoring points included Kyle Shaffer and Trey Kell, each with 6, Pheng Lee with 5, and Allen Castaneda with 2.

"At Decatur we have always been able to use our losses as a learning tool, and we will do that with these two losses," Unger stated. "We will get back to work and try to fix our problems and continue to get better and turn this season around. We have the pieces and players to be very successful, but we have to work at it. It is not just going to come to us."

The Decatur Bulldogs traveled to Ft. Smith on Jan. 5 to meet the Union Christian Eagles. Decatur held the lead in the first period, out-scoring Union Christian 8 to 4. The Bulldogs continued to dominate the Eagles in the second period taking a 16 to 12 lead into half-time. In the third period, the Eagles fought back and by period's end tied the score, 24 to 24. The last period of play it was all Union Christian, out-scoring Decatur 20 to 11. The final score was Eagles 44, Decatur 35.

"We couldn't ever get the transition game going. Every time we got something going, Union countered it and slowed the game down and got to the free-throw line," Unger stated. "We have to give Union credit for controlling the tempo of the game and taking us out of our game."

Leading the Decatur Bulldogs was Mario Urquidi with 21 points, followed by Victor Urquidi with 6 points. Other Bulldogs scoring points included Kyle Shaffer and Trey Kell, each with 3, and Meng Vang with 2.

"I feel like we are much better than our record shows, but we have to turn it up a notch and learn to play hard every second of every game," Unger said. "We have experienced success here lately and we have to remember what got us to where we are now, hard work. We are going to get back to basics and get to working hard. We have found out it is much harder to win when we are the hunted instead of being the hunter."

The next games for the Decatur Bulldogs include: Hartford on Jan. 7 at home. Game time is 4 p.m (starting with the junior high boys and girls and followed by the senior high boys and girls); Hackett on Jan. 9 at home, with game time at 6 p.m. (junior high boys and girls and seventh grade boys); Hackett on Jan. 10 at Hackett, game time 6 p.m. (senior high boys and girls); Mountainburg on Jan. 13 at Mountainburg, game time 5 p.m. (junior high boys and girls ans seventh grade boys); and Mountainburg on Jan. 14 at home, game time 6 p.m. (senior high boys and girls).

Sports on 01/08/2014