Bulldogs maul Highlanders, take conference lead

Photo by Mike Eckels Decatur’s Mario Urquidi (#5) executes a reverse lay up during the Jan. 16 conference game against Eureka Springs at the Dawg Pound at Decatur High School. Urquidi nailed the 2-point shot, which extended the Bulldogs’ lead in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs overpowered the Highlanders, 46 to 32, taking over the regular season lead in the 2A 4 West Conference.
Photo by Mike Eckels Decatur’s Mario Urquidi (#5) executes a reverse lay up during the Jan. 16 conference game against Eureka Springs at the Dawg Pound at Decatur High School. Urquidi nailed the 2-point shot, which extended the Bulldogs’ lead in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs overpowered the Highlanders, 46 to 32, taking over the regular season lead in the 2A 4 West Conference.

DECATUR -- For the Decatur Bulldogs, the game against the Eureka Springs Highlanders was their chance to either continue an undefeated conference season or fall to second place behind the Highlanders.

In a bizarre twist only indicative of a Bulldog-Highlander game, the contest began with Bulldog captain Mario Urquidi walking over to the free-throw line and shooting three technical-foul shots. The crowd looked on as Urquidi made one of the three shots and the Bulldogs were given possession of the ball. An unsportsmanlike-conduct technical foul against Eureka Springs was called before the game even began when, during pregame warm ups, a Highlander player slam dunked the ball and hung on the rim.

The Bulldogs jumped out front early and, with momentum favoring the home team, Decatur managed a 12 to 2 lead by the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Highlanders tried to mount a run but each time they scored, the Bulldogs marched down the court and matched points.

Decatur led 22-13 at the half, and Pheng Lee strung together three straight 3-pointers in the second half as the Bulldogs built a lead of 34-15.

"He's had five or six games where he got hot and hit a few threes in a row like that," Unger said. "We had talked at halftime that we needed to hit some outside shots and open it up on the inside and that was huge."

Lee had 12 points to go with 13 for Mario Urquidi inside. Terry Kell added 11 points to the effort.

"Terry had the best game of his career," Unger said. "He usually doesn't score a lot but he brings us a lot of energy and hustle. He got some big rebounds and made some shots tonight."

In the final quarter, the Highlanders managed to mount a short rally and cut the Decatur lead to nine on a Reggie Sanchez 3-pointer. Sanchez stripped the ball away from Decatur's Terry Kell and made the shot. Though taunted by Sanchez, Kell maintained his cool and cleared a jump shot over Sanchez' head for two points on the next play. This started another Bulldog rally which led to a 46 to 32 win and top spot in the 2A 4 West conference as the only undefeated team.

Decatur's overall record improved to 6 and 0 in conference and 14 and 6, overall.

"Our guys played a great game. I was really impressed with our defense," said John Unger, Decatur's head coach. "We held Eureka Springs in check most of the game and limited their runs. This was a big game for our team and puts us ahead in the conference race. Now we just have to keep improving and not get complacent."

Grant Tolley contributed to this report.

Other Games

In other Decatur-Eureka Springs games, the junior high girls lost, 29 to 21, while the junior high boys lost, 43 to 30.

The senior high girls played a solid defense against the Lady Highlanders. But their lack of consistency at putting points on the board hurt them and Eureka pulled out in front by 11 points. The final was 58 to 47.

Boys

Decatur 46

Eureka Springs 32

Eureka 2 13 4 13 -- 32

Decatur 12 10 13 11 -- 46

Eureka Springs (17-8, 6-1): Lemme 13, Sanchez 9, Mendez 9, Vasquez 1.

Decatur (13-6, 6-0): Mario Urquidi 13, Lee 12, Kell 11, Victor Urquidi 8, Casteneda 2.

Girls

Eureka Springs 58

Decatur 47

Eureka 19 11 13 15 -- 58

Decatur 6 17 11 13 -- 47

Eureka Springs (8-17, 2-5): Brothers 25, Mayfield 12, Little 9, Montez 4, Orelegan 3, Fields 3, Wright 1, Asmus 1.

Decatur (1-16, 1-5): Shaffer 18, Vargas 11, Harris 8, Mendoza 5, Smith 3, Bunden 2.

Decatur's next home game will be Jan. 22 against JC Westside Rebels. Junior high school games start at 4 p.m., with the senior boys game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

Sports on 01/21/2015