DECATUR -- The Decatur Lady Bulldogs played one of their hardest-fought battles to date against the Watts, Okla., Lady Engineers. The results? One of the most exciting games of the season at Peterson Gym in Decatur was played Dec. 19.
The two teams tangled Nov. 14 at Engineer Gym in Watts. It, too, was a hard-fought contest, with the Lady Bulldogs holding the lead in the first quarter before the Lady Engineers pulled out in front late in the second quarter. Decatur came within five several times in the second half but was unable to overtake Watts. The Lady Engineers eventually won the contest by 13, 59-47.
The Dec. 19 contest began much the same as the Nov. 14 game, with the Lady Bulldogs taking command of the first quarter early. But a two-point shot near the buzzer by the Lady Engineers gave them a single point lead at the end of the quarter. Decatur fell off the pace in the second quarter, allowing the Lady Engineers to outshoot them, 19-10, taking a 32-22 lead at the halftime break.
The first eight minutes of the second half was a dead-even contest with both teams hitting 13 points. Just before the final buzzer sounded ending the third quarter, with less than three seconds on the clock and the Lady Bulldogs down by 13, Destiny Mejia drove the ball over the half court line and launched a long bomb from well outside the three-point line. The ball hit its mark as the buzzer sounded, pulling Decatur to within 10.
As the fourth quarter began, Watts hit a set of two-point shots, moving the Lady Engineers ahead of Decatur by 14. But as the quarter progressed, the Lady Bulldogs began to hit its stride and made 11 out of 12 shots from the free-throw line, with Mejia sinking seven of eight free throws for 87 percent. Two three-pointers from Abby Tilley and Paige Vann, who added a two-pointer, allowed Decatur to amass 19 points, one of its highest single-quarter point totals this season.
Decatur would cut the lead to seven midway through the half. But a series of defensive mistakes allowed Watts to build a 15 point lead. The Lady Bulldogs continued to keep pace with the Lady Engineers, cutting Watts' lead to 13 by the end of the quarter. In one of the most intense games thus far at Peterson Gym, the Watts Lady Engineers walked away with the victory over the Decatur Lady Bulldogs, 67-54.
Three Lady Bulldogs were in double figures in the Decatur-Watts contest. Leading the scoring drive was Vann with 15, followed by Mejia with 13 and Tilley with 10. Rounding out Decatur's scoring effort was Sammie Skaggs with eight, Kaylee Morales with seven, and Jackie Herrera with two.
Vann accomplished something in this game that few Lady Bulldogs have been able to do in the past. Vann hit 10 out of 10 free-throw attempts for a perfect 100 percent from the line.
Mejia had one of the best nights of her high school basketball career as well, hitting 10 of 14 from the free-throw line for 72 percent and hitting her longest three-point shot to date.
Overall, the Lady Bulldogs turned in one of their best free-throw performances in over three years, hitting a remarkable 84 percent from the line. This, along with the three players in double figures, enabled Decatur to keep pace with Watts even though it lost the contest.
The Decatur junior high girls' basketball team nearly pulled off a victory earlier in the evening, leading its Watts counterparts through three and a half quarters of play. But Watts managed to tie Decatur at 23 all with 30 seconds left in the game. Watts was able to take over the lead with 15 seconds left. Decatur had two chances to regain the lead on two Watts turnovers but was unable to capitalize on the mistake, giving Watts junior high girls a 25-23 win over Decatur.
Both Decatur teams will be in action again Dec. 29 when they close out the 2017 portion of the season at Centerton and take on the junior and senior high Life Way Lady Warriors at Warrior Gym in Centerton. Game time for the junior high team is set for 4 p.m., with the senior contest at 6 p.m.
Sports on 12/27/2017