WEST FORK--The Decatur Bulldogs had a rough go of it as they dropped their season opener against the Tigers in the Tiger Dome at West Fork on Nov. 15.
The home-court advantage played in West Fork's favor as it established a 10-point lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter. This set the pace for the rest of the game as the Bulldogs struggled to put points on the scoreboard early on.
After the break, Decatur's defensive strategy caught the Tigers off guard halfway through the third quarter. But the Bulldogs failed to capitalize on this scoring opportunity, allowing the Tigers to quickly regain their composure and continue to build their lead.
By the end of the game, West Fork had built a 29-point lead and took the contest, 63 to 34, over Decatur.
The Bulldogs were at a disadvantage with this season's early start. When the football season ended Nov. 11, the basketball team only had 12 days and only a handful of practices to prepare for this game.
"It's always hard playing a game with only four or five practices. I thought we did some good things but we still have things we need to work on," said John Unger, Decatur's head basketball coach. "It's a long season and we will only get better. I have to give West Fork credit for playing a great game. They did a lot of things that got us out of our game."
The Bulldogs will review videos of the West Fork game and work on their weakness as the team prepares for the Decatur Holiday Hoop tournament Nov. 28 through Dec. 3 at Peterson Gym in Decatur.
"We will learn from our mistakes, and this group of guys will continue to get better each game," Unger said. "We are very optimistic about our season and we will continue to work extremely hard to reach our goals."
Shooting: Leading the scoring for the Bulldogs was Bracy Owens with 10, followed by Leng Lee with 8 and Taylor Haisman with 6. Other Bulldog scorers included Jay Porter and Wyatt Bingham, each with 4, and Marck Guadarrama with 2, for a total of 34 points.
Rebounds: Leading the rebounds was Leng Lee, with 5, followed by Haisman and Bingham, each with 3. Levi Newman and Ryan Ross each had 2, Jimmy Mendoza, Bracy Owens and Cayden Bingham each had 1, for a total of 18.
Steals: Leng Lee, Haisman and Owens each had 3 steals, while Jay Porter and Jimmy Mendoza each had 1, for a total of 11.
In other Decatur basketball news, the Bulldogs traveled to Missouri on Nov. 19 to take on the Exeter Tigers at Exeter High School where they took the victory, 56-24. Taylor Haisman was the leading scorer for the Bulldogs, with 26 points, followed by Leng Lee with 10.
Sports on 11/23/2016