DECATUR — The off season continues for the Decatur Bulldog senior boys' basketball team as it participated in a one-day tournament at home.
Four area teams participated in the first Decatur Summer Classic basketball tournament at Peterson Gym in Decatur June 7. Along with the host team, the Decatur Bulldogs, were the Gentry Pioneers, Eureka Springs Highlanders and a new team, the Centerton Life Way Christian Warriors.
Life Way Christian School opened its doors in early 2000 as an early childhood development center. In August 2007, the school added a 20,000-square-foot middle- and high-school facility. Life Way is a member of the American Association of Christian Schools. Basketball is one of nine sports the school offers.
The Warriors won the 2010, 2012 and 2015 AACS district basketball championships and the 2012 and 2015 AACS basketball state championships. Life Way's fast-paced and aggressive style of play showed during the tournament.
The tournament consisted of six games, playing two 15-minute halves with a 3-minute break between halves.
First up were the Decatur Bulldogs and the Gentry Pioneers. The Pioneers quickly gained the lead behind the aggressive play of team leader, Cole Cripps. In the second half, the Pioneers jumped out to a 12-point lead. With two minutes left, Decatur switched into overdrive and pulled within two points. With 6.9 seconds to play, the Bulldogs gained control of the ball. Leng Lee and Bracy Owens fought for position on the three-point line but were double teamed by Gentry. The ball went to Taylor Haisman, who put up a three-point attempt with two seconds left. The ball bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded, giving Gentry the first game, 20-18.
Eureka Springs and Life Way met in the second game, with the Warriors taking the game by five points. It was much the same story in the third game as Life Way defeated Gentry by 10 points.
In the final game, that pitted the Warriors against the Bulldogs, Life Way grabbed an early lead and held on throughout the 30 minutes of play. In the end, the Life Way Warriors defeated the Decatur Bulldogs by 30 points, 44 to 14.
The Life Way Warriors won all three of their games to take the first Decatur Summer Classic championship. But more than winning was the valuable experience each team gained by playing other teams of different calibers. The experience will help keep the players in practice and ready for the basketball season in October.
Sports on 06/15/2016