Bulldogs start winning streak

Photo by Mike Eckels Decatur point guard Sarah Harris strips the ball away from a Hartford player during the senior high game in Decatur on Jan. 11. Harris leadership helped give the Lady Bulldogs their first victory of the season, 54 to 20.

Photo by Mike Eckels Decatur point guard Sarah Harris strips the ball away from a Hartford player during the senior high game in Decatur on Jan. 11. Harris leadership helped give the Lady Bulldogs their first victory of the season, 54 to 20.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

DECATUR -- The recent snow storms in the area forced the cancellation of not only schools but of several area basketball events.

For the Decatur Bulldogs, the Jan. 7 match-up with the Hartford Hustlers and the Jan. 9 Hackett Hornets, both home games, were cancelled.

However, on Jan. 10, the Decatur Bulldogs traveled south to take on the Hackett Hornets in varsity play in a regularly scheduled game.

The Decatur senior varsity Lady Bulldogs lost to the Hornets, 54 to 20.

In the boys' game, the Bulldogs played tough, leading the Hornets throughout much of the game. In a desperation shot, however, in the last 10 seconds of the fourth period, Hackett scored, taking the victory away from Decatur. The final score was 48 to 47.

"I thought we totally dominated the game from beginning to end. We led the entire game except for the last 10 seconds," Decatur's head basketball coach, John Unger, stated. "We played a great brand of basketball and it was fun to coach and fun to play. We just didn't do enough to come out with the tough road game."

"This is the first night we played our style of game," Unger continued, "and you can see we are about to turn the corner and be a very good basketball team. We played with such toughness and passion that it will continue to spill over into the next few weeks ... I'm proud of the guys' effort and their heart; it was a total team effort, but we just couldn't hang on."

Leading scorer for the Bulldogs was Mario Urquidi with 15 points, followed by Victor Urquidi with 14. Other Bulldogs scoring include Kyle Shaffer with 10, Ray Haisman with 3, Meng Vang and Allen Castaneda each with 2, and Trey Kell with 1.

Head Coach John Unger was able to work out a makeup arrangement with Hartford to play in Decatur on Jan. 11.

The four-game series began with the junior high girls. They quickly put two on the score board. The junior girls held Harford scoreless for the first three minutes of the first period with a 4 to 0 run. Once Hartford started hitting the mark, they quickly overtook the Bulldogs and went into the half with a 24 to 4 lead. In the second half, the junior girls held Hartford to 1 point. They began to put points on the board, but it was not enough to gain a victory. The final was 25 to 17, Hartford.

Next up was the junior high boys. From the start, the Bulldogs dominated the Hustlers behind the leadership of Jason Porter and Jaffet Puga. Hartford tied the game several times during the first half. But Decatur came out strong in the second half, holding the lead until the end. The final was 37 to 28, Decatur.

Porter was the leading scorer with 17, followed by Puga and Leng Lee, each with six.

"We played a great second half today and our pressure defense really made a huge difference in the outcome," Unger stated. "I thought our guards did a great job defending and, on offense, they found the open man in the zone, which led to easy baskets or free throws. I thought we did a great job rebounding on both ends of the floor tonight, especially Jason Porter, Jafett Puga and Ryan Shaffer. If we continue to play like we have the past two nights, we will win many more games."

Lady Bulldogs win

Next up was the senior girls for Decatur. Under the leadership of Sarah Harris, the Lady Bulldogs took control of the game and never looked back. They dominated Hartford the entire game. The Lady Bulldogs took a 14 to 8 lead at the half.

Decatur came out of the locker room continuing its dominance over Hartford. However, a violent collision just past half court threatened to put Decatur's leading player on the bench and possibly out of the game.

About midway through the third period, point guard Sarah Harris was driving the ball toward the Decatur end of the court when a Hartford player stepped into her way and the two violently collided. Harris went down. She was holding her right shoulder and was in obvious pain. She left the game for a few minutes as coaches tried to assist her. Shortly before the end of the third period, Harris reentered the game and played to the final buzzer. Quick work by the coaching staff prevented Harris from more serious injury.

With Harris back in the game, the Lady Bulldogs continued to control the tempo of the game to the end. They took their first victory of the season, 54 to 20.

Decatur 66

Hartford 51

The varsity Bulldog boys concluded the day with an impressive victory over Hartford, 66 to 51. The Urquidi brothers led Decatur to its third victory of the season.

"Our pressure defense really gave Hartford fits throughout the game and we wore them down in the second half and began to get easy baskets," Coach Unger said. "We played really hard tonight and we played fast. Our guys are starting to figure the game out and what it takes to be successful, and I thought this was a great bounce-back game after the tough loss to Hackett the night before. Mario and Victor did a great job scoring, but it was a total team effort." Unger added, "Our rotation at the guard spot kept us fresh and our guards played great defense and took care of the ball on the offensive end. I'm really proud of this group. This has been a challenging year so far, but we are playing our best basketball at the right time."

Leading scorers for Decatur were Victor Urquidi with 26 points, followed by brother Mario with 24. Other Bulldogs scoring points included Pheng Lee with 7, Trey Kell with 4, Meng Vang with 3, and Matt Lee with 2.

"I told the team after the game that we are only going to get better as the season progresses and they have showed that to me the last two nights. When they push themselves and get after their opponent, they are tough to beat," Unger said. "Our confidence is rising and, if we continue to outwork our opponents, we are going to finish the season on a very high note!" Unger concluded.

For a complete list of upcoming Decatur basketball games, visit the Decatur School District website at www.decatursd.com.

Sports on 01/15/2014