DECATUR -- The Decatur Bulldogs traveled south to Magazine Jan. 27 to take on the Leftwich Rattlers and tasted their first conference defeat on the road. But they redeemed themselves Jan. 30 when they returned home for the Colors Day matchup against the Hartford Hustlers.
Coming off eight straight conference wins, the Bulldogs struggled with the Rattlers, who were 0 and 9 in conference play going into this game.
"It was a hard game. We couldn't get the ball in the basket," said John Unger, Decatur head coach. "We shot 63 field goal attempts, they shot 30."
The Bulldogs not only struggled hitting field goals but also making free throws and with fouls.
But the Bulldogs did manage to out rebound the Rattlers, 40 to 20, and forced turnovers; but that was not enough to save Decatur.
The Bulldogs had a three-point lead with 5 seconds left in the fourth quarter when a Decatur player fouled a Leftwich shooter at the three-point line. The Rattlers capitalized on Decatur's mistake, making all three baskets to tie and send the game into overtime.
Decatur was not able to pull the game out, even going into a second overtime. Leftwich dashed Decatur's hope for a perfect conference record by defeating the Bulldogs 64 to 57.
"It was a setback for sure," Unger said. "No loss is good, but I think it will refocus the guys."
Shaking off the loss to Leftwich, Decatur turned its attention to the Colors Day game with the Hartford Hustlers on Friday.
The normal schedule of games was reversed to accommodate the coronation of the king and queen. The senior boys played before the senior girls.
After Jaquelin Vargas and Pheng Lee were crowned Colors Day queen and king, the attention focused on the main event, the Decatur-Hartford matchup.
From the opening tipoff, the Bulldogs were back in their element, having learned a harsh lesson from two days earlier.
The Bulldogs' fast-paced game style forced the Hustlers to a rushed shot and to turnover the ball. By the end of the first quarter, it was apparent that the Bulldogs were not going to repeat the mistakes of the Leftwich game, as they commanded a 16 to 4 lead.
It would be much of the same in the second quarter as Hartford struggled to put points on the board. Several blocked shots by Mario Urquidi and Victor Urquidi helped to demoralize the Hustlers' offense. By the end of the first half, the Bulldogs managed to convert a 12-point lead at the beginning of the second quarter to a 29-point lead at the buzzer at the end of the half. Decatur took a 37-to-8 lead into the locker room.
The Bulldogs continued to dominate the boards in the third quarter and maintained as much as a 33-point lead. At the halfway point of the third quarter, Unger decided to replace his starters with his backup players.
"The seniors did a good job of getting the younger guys going," Unger said. "The other guys came in and kept up the pace. There was no letup. We can't have two or three guys doing it all; we need all 16 to do their best, and they did."
Although Hartford managed to put several points on the scoreboard, the Decatur backup players came out with the same intensity as the starters. The entire bench had a chance to play, and play they did. By the end of the game, the Bulldogs took the contest, 57 to 23.
"We came out with a lot of energy and intensity," said Unger. "After losing that game (Leftwich), I thing it woke the guys up."
The Decatur Bulldogs have four more games left in the regular season, with two of the hardest games -- Eureka Springs and Hackett -- on the road. If they win these games, they will bring the 2A4 West regular season championship home. They are currently in first place and one game ahead of Eureka Springs.
If they continue to play with the same intensity as they did against Hartford Jan. 30, a conference, regional and state championship trophy may be in their future.
Decatur Stats for
Leftwich Game
Leading scorer was Mario Urquidi with 23 points and 8 rebounds followed by Victor Urquidi - 11 points and 3 rebounds, and Meng Vang- 8 points and 5 rebounds. Other stats: Leng Lee - 6 points and 4 rebounds, Pheng Lee - 3 points and 2 rebounds, Jay Porter - 2 points and 4 rebounds, Allan Castaneda - 2 points and 3 rebounds. Terry Kell pulled down 3 rebounds.
Decatur Stats for
Hartford Game
Leading scorers for Decatur were Mario Urquidi with 22 points and 7 rebounds followed by Victor Urquidi - 9 points and 3 rebounds and Leng Lee - 5 points and 1 rebound. Other stats: Meng Vang - 4 points and 3 rebounds, Terry Kell - 4 points and 1 rebound, Brody Funk and Bracy Owens each with 3 points and 1 rebound, Allan Castaneda and Jay Porter each with 2 points and 2 rebounds, Ray Hiasman - 2 points and 1 rebound, Jafett Puga - 3 rebounds, Marck Guadarrama - 2 rebounds, Ryan Shaffer - 1 rebound.
Leading scorers for Hartford were Chad Dietz with 8 and Robert Collins with 7.
In other Colors Day games, the Decatur junior high boys defeated Hartford, 37 to 24.
The senior girls lost to Hartford, 40 to 35.
The senior boys' next home game will be Feb. 6 against the Mountainburg Dragons. Game time begins at 4 p.m. with the junior boys, followed by the senior girls at 6 p.m. and the senior boys at 7 p.m.
Sports on 02/04/2015