COAL HILL -- After losing a tough game to an official's call last week, the Decatur Bulldog senior boys traveled to Coal Hill for the first round of the 2A West regional playoffs Feb. 26. They faced the same team that eliminated them in the first round last year, the Bigelow Panthers.
Decatur gained a 4-point lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter. But Bigelow quickly took control of the remainder of the first half. A long 3-pointer by Pelham beat the halftime buzzer for the 13-point lead, 36 to 23. The Panthers made five of six 3-point attempts in the first half.
As the third quarter began, a quick two points by the Panthers threatened a repeat of the first half. But as was the case in several close games during the regular season, the Bulldogs took the court, on fire, fighting and battling back from a 15-point deficit. By the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs were up by four.
A 3-pointer by the Panthers brought the game to within one. The lead changed hands several times during the remainder of the quarter. Decatur had a one point lead, 52 to 51, at the 2 minute, 53 second, mark in the fourth when Bigelow sophomore Justin Testerman stopped Decatur.
Testerman scored 11 of his 13 points in the final six minutes of the game to help Bigelow to a 61-56 victory over Decatur in a first round-game at the Class 2A West Regional.
"This is a tough loss for our basketball team. These guys have put many hours into this sport and we just came up short," said John Unger, head basketball coach. "I thought we played really hard, but we just didn't make the shots when we needed to."
Bigelow (19-7) won 12 of its last 13 games, and the win put the Panthers into the Class 2A Tournament for the second straight year.
"We were wondering how we were going to get our hands off our throat," said Craig Neumeier, Bigelow coach. "Once we did that, we got into a good flow."
Point leaders for the Pathers included Cody Pelham with 14, followed by Justin Testerman and Joe Nutt each with 13.
"Bigelow did a good job of taking advantage in the first half and our guys showed a lot of character by crawling their way back," said Unger.
"It hurts to lose, but sports teaches us valuable life lessons. Today's lessons were that you have to always take advantage of your opportunities, little things matter, and there is always someone out there that is just as good as you or better," Unger said. "Our seniors had a great career and I will always love those guys. They are a huge part of our success the past three seasons. Our younger guys will get back to work and we will do our best to get back here next year."
Victor Urquidi played one of the best games of the season, scoring 21 points, with three rebounds and three steals. He was the leading scorer for Decatur, followed by brother Mario, who had 17 points and 11 rebounds, his 15th double-double of the season. Other Decatur scorers include Meng Vang -- 12 points and 6 rebounds, Pheng Lee -- 4 points and 1 rebound, Allan Castaneda -- 2 points and 3 rebounds.
The Bulldog senior boys finished the season 20 and 9 overall and 13 and 1 in conference play. This was a phenomenal season for Decatur. For Mario Urquidi, he ended the 2014-15 season with 551 points, 292 rebounds, 57 steals and 75 blocks. He finished his four year high school career with 1,662 points and 986 rebounds.
The 2A 4West district tournament, which pitted Eureka Springs and Magazine in the championship and Decatur and JC Westside in the consolation match, had to be canceled due to a severe winter storm on Feb. 23. Officials are still deciding how to award the places in that tournament.
Eureka Springs, beaten three times this season by the Bulldogs, went on to defeat Bigelow, 51-44, and plays in the regional finals.
Paul Nielsen contributed to this article.
Sports on 03/04/2015