COLCORD (Okla.) -- The Decatur Bulldogs earned two victories this week as the team traveled to Colcord, Okla., to participate in the Colcord Hoopfest 2016 at Hornet Arena Dec. 8-10.
Before traveling to Colcord, the Bulldogs played their first 1A Northwest Conference game of the season taking on the Kingstion Yellowjackets in Kingston on Dec 6.
The Bulldogs fell behind early in the game and by half time were down by 16 points. Decatur battled back in the second half to tie the game with less than two minutes left. Decatur fouled several times in the closing minute of the game, giving the Yellowjackets an eight-point advantage and the victory over the Bulldogs, 54 to 46.
The Bulldogs fared much better during the Colcord round robin tournament when it took on the host team Dec. 8.
Decatur jumped to an early lead in the opening minute of play on a pair of three-point shots by Leng Lee and Taylor Haisman. The Bulldogs continued to build their lead and, by the end of the first quarter, lead by six. The Hornets picked up the pace in the second quarter, out shooting the Bulldogs, 14 to 11, and pulling within four points by halftime, 28 to 24.
The Bulldogs set the pace during the early stages of the third quarter. Colcord began to battle back and cut the Bulldog lead to two point by the end of the third. But Colcord's rally was short lived and Decatur regained control of the game by out shooting the Yellowjackets, 16 to 9, in the fourth quarter to take the win, 55 to 46, and their fourth victory of the season.
Taylor Haisman lead the scoring for the Bulldogs with 18, followed by Leng Lee with 15, Bracy Owens with 14, Ryan Ross with 6 and Jay Porter with 2. Haisman and Lee each had four three pointers and Owens had two.
The Bulldogs returned to Colcord Dec. 9 to take on the Vinita junior varsity Hornets. This matchup would see the Decatur and Vinita JV fighting for control of the first eight minutes of the game. Decatur took a two point lead going into the second quarter. The Bulldogs widen their lead on a pair of three-pointers to end the half, 21 to 11.
Decatur took advantage of weaknesses in the Vinita defense to pull ahead head by 24 points by game's end, taking their fifth win of the season, 49 to 25.
Leading the scoring for the Bulldogs was Lee with 15, followed by Alex Lee with 8, Jimmy Mendoza with 7, Haisman and Owens each with 5, Marck Guadarrama with 4, Ryan Ross and Jay Porter each with 2, and Garry Woods with 1.
Decatur's final opponent of the Colcord tournament was the Westville Yellowjackets on Dec. 10. This proved to be a physical contest for the Bulldogs as the Yellowjackets, with size and strength, came into the matchup having beaten both Colcord and Vinta JV by wide margins.
The Yellowjackets opened a commanding lead, holding Decatur to only five points in the first quarter and 10 points in the second to take a 34 to 15 lead going into the halftime break.
The game became more physical in the second half as the Bulldogs tried to fight back. Late in the third quarter, a series of bad calls by the officials sent John Unger, Decatur coach, to the scorer table to dispute the calls. He immediately drew a technical, sending Westville to the line. By this time the Yellowjacket had already built a 23-point lead going into the final eight minutes of game.
The first four minutes of the fourth quarter became a shoving match between Westville and Decatur. One Westville player limped off of the court with a knee injury in the early stages of the final quarter. Decatur's Bracy Owens was shoved to the ground by a Westville player, causing him to land on this right shoulder and forcing him to leave the game. It was at this point that the officials decided to regain control of the game and slow down the pace. By game's end, the Westville Yellowjackets held a 21-point lead over the Decatur Bulldogs, taking the victory, 65 to 44.
The Bulldogs are now 5 and 4 overall and 0 and 1 in conference play going into the final week of the 2016 portion of the season.
Decatur returns to conference action Dec. 13 at home, taking on the Alpena Leopards at Peterson Gym. The Bulldogs close out 2016 on the road against the Union Christian Eagles in Fort Smith Dec. 16. Both games begin at 7 p.m.
Sports on 12/14/2016