DECATUR -- The Decatur Bulldogs continued their march to the state championship by posting two more conference victories, one on the road and one at home.
The Bulldogs traveled south Jan. 6 to take on the Hartford Hustlers.
From the opening tip off, the Bulldogs took command of the Hustlers by use of their new full-court press. This new play strategy allowed the Bulldogs control of the game and gave them the lead at half time.
"We have struggled on the road the past year, and tonight we really got it going early and used our pressure to control the tempo and never looked back," John Unger, Decatur's head basketball coach, said.
It was much the same in the second half as Decatur continued its dominance over Hartford. When the final buzzer sounded, Decatur put its third conference win in the record books, handing the Hustlers a 53 to 31 loss at home.
"This was a good road win for us. We are becoming a much more mature team," Unger said. "Any time you win back-to-back road games by 20-plus points, that's a great sign of maturity within our team. We are continuing to work on the things that need improvement, and each game we are getting a little bit better."
Leading scorer for the Bulldogs was Mario Urquidi with 20 points and 11 rebounds (one more double, double) followed by Victor Urquidi with 14 points and 9 rebounds. Other Decatur players scoring points included Pheng Lee, 7 points and 8 rebounds; Allan Castaneda, 5 points and 4 rebounds; Meng Vang 5 points and 5 rebounds; and Ryan Shaffer, 2 points and 1 rebound.
"We still haven't hit our ceiling yet. I was real proud of the way we played tonight at Hartford," Unger said.
The senior boys returned home to the Dawg Pound Jan. 9 to take on the Hackett Hornets, who were 1 and 2 in conference play.
Once again the Bulldogs' full-court press proved too much for Hackett as they held the Hornets to only two points in the first quarter, 21 to 2.
"The guys were fun to watch tonight," Unger said. "We set the tempo of the game early and made Hackett turn it over to us, and we cashed in on the easy buckets."
Decatur took full advantage of every Hackett turnover by converting it to points. The Hornets only managed to put 5 points to the Bulldogs 12 as the half ended, 33 to 7 in favor of Decatur.
"Our guys played so hard and gave each other everything they had. It's so encouraging the way our team has come together," Unger said. "We are playing with great energy and playing with great emotion."
The Bulldogs continued to put pressure on the Hornets in the second half and continued to dominate the game. Decatur held Hackett to only 4 points in the third quarter and took an overwhelming 47 to 11 lead at the end of the third.
With the lead a whopping 36 points, Unger decided to play his entire bench in the fourth quarter, reserving his starters for the next game. Each and every Decatur player hit the court with the same drive as the starters. Basket after basket hit its mark and the Bulldogs ended the game 54 to 17.
"Our bench came in the game, and the energy didn't drop at all. I was real impressed with our guys tonight and how they started the game and continued to play the same way throughout the game," Unger said. "I was expecting a much more difficult game, but we did what we needed to do and we fixed some of the small issues this week in practice, and it led us to a big victory."
Leading scorer for the Decatur Bulldogs was once again Mario Urquidi with 20 points and 9 rebounds. Brother Victor Urquidi was next with 10 points and 4 rebounds, followed by Kyle Shaffer with 9 points and 4 rebounds.
Other Bulldogs in scoring range included Allan Castaneda, 4 points and 2 rebounds; Meng Vang, 3 points and 4 rebounds; Pheng Lee, 3 points and 2 rebounds; Jay Porter, 2 points and 1 rebound; Ryan Shaffer, 2 points (at the final buzzer).
For the defense, Terry Kell with 3 rebounds, followed by Brody Funk with 2 rebounds, Leng Lee with 2 rebounds, Marck Guadarrama and Ryan Shaffer each with 1.
"We will continue to work hard and hope that this success continues for us the rest of the year," Unger said.
The senior boys' next home game will be against the Eureka Springs Highlanders at the Dawg Pound Jan. 16.
Both Decatur and Eureka Springs are undefeated in conference play. This match up could decide who takes the regular season conference championship.
Game starts at 7 p.m., with the junior high boys playing at 4 p.m.
Sports on 01/14/2015