Bulldogs lose to Leopards in district contest

Photo by Mike Eckels Decatur’s Jimmy Mendoza gets serious air time as he goes for a layup during the final minute of the Decatur-Alpena basketball contest at Peterson Gym in Decatur Dec. 13. Mendoza’s layup hit its mark for two points.
Photo by Mike Eckels Decatur’s Jimmy Mendoza gets serious air time as he goes for a layup during the final minute of the Decatur-Alpena basketball contest at Peterson Gym in Decatur Dec. 13. Mendoza’s layup hit its mark for two points.

DECATUR -- Coming off a pair of wins during the Colcord Tournament Dec. 8-9, the Decatur Bulldogs were back in action Dec. 13 to take on the Alpena Leopards for their final home game of 2016 at Peterson Gym.

The Bulldogs went into the Alpena contest without one of their leading outside shooters, Taylor Haisman, who was out for personal reasons. His absence had a profound effect on the outcome of the Decatur-Alpena matchup.

Decatur put the first two points on the scoreboard on a shot by Leng Lee from the lane. Shortly thereafter, the Leopards shut down the Decatur offense, holding the Bulldogs to only Lee's two-pointer and a free throw to close out the first quarter, 15-3.

Decatur's troubles were just beginning as the second quarter began and the Bulldogs missed several scoring opportunities to put them farther behind. The Bulldog defense managed to hold the Leopard offense to only 13 points for the remainder of the quarter but failed to capitalize on this scoring opportunity and ended the first half down by 20.

The second half was not much better for the struggling Decatur Bulldogs. The Bulldog offense began to hit more shots in the second half but was unable to stop the Leopard offense in the third quarter, allowing Alpena to carry a 22-point lead going into the final quarter of the game. Decatur began to play catchup late in the final quarter, but it was too little, too late as the Alpena Leopards took the victory, 44-28. With this loss, the Bulldogs drop to 0-2 in the 1A district 1.

Leading the scoring was Leng Lee with 9, followed by Bracy Owens and Jimmy Mendoza, each with 6. Rounding out the Bulldog scoring effort was Jay Porter with 3, followed by Garry Woods and Ryan Ross, each with 2.

Leading the rebound effort for the Bulldogs was Ross with 8, followed by Lee with 5, Woods with 4, Owens, Alex Lee, Wyatt Bingham and Levi Newman each with 2. Marck Guadarrama and Jay Porter rounded out the rebounds with 1 each.

The Decatur Bulldogs traveled to Fort Smith Dec. 16 to take on the Union Christian Eagles. Once again, the Bulldogs were without starter Taylor Haisman. The Bulldogs felt his absence and Union Christian took the victory (score not available).

The Bulldogs begin the second half of the season with a full conference schedule beginning Jan. 6 when they travel to St. Paul. The Bulldogs return home Jan. 10 to take on the Kingston Yellowjackets at Peterson Gym in Decatur. Game time for these games will be 7 p.m.

Sports on 12/21/2016