Lady Bulldogs win games at Eureka Springs and Decatur

Photo by Mike Eckels Decatur’s Desi Meek puts up a free-throw during the Lady Bulldogs’-Lady Saints’ basketball contest at Peterson Gym in Decatur Jan. 20. Meek’s shot in the final 30 seconds put the game out of reach for St. Paul and helped give Decatur its first district win of the season.
Photo by Mike Eckels Decatur’s Desi Meek puts up a free-throw during the Lady Bulldogs’-Lady Saints’ basketball contest at Peterson Gym in Decatur Jan. 20. Meek’s shot in the final 30 seconds put the game out of reach for St. Paul and helped give Decatur its first district win of the season.

DECATUR -- The Decatur Lady Bulldogs got on the winning track as they took victories in two basketball contests last week, the first on the road against the Eureka Springs Lady Highlanders and the second at home against the St. Paul Saints.

The Lady Bulldogs traveled to Eureka Springs Jan. 17 to take on the Lady Highlanders in a conference contest at Highlander Gym in Eureka Springs. Both teams were looking for their second victory of the season. Eureka was 1-16 going into this matchup and Decatur was 1-13. But the home-court advantage did not help the Lady Highlanders when the Lady Bulldogs' offense kicked into high gear.

The Decatur girls, who have struggled on offense since their first victory against the Lady Eagles of Union Christian during the Decatur Holiday Hoops Tournament on Dec. 1, finally found the basket. The Lady Bulldogs pulled ahead of the Lady Highlanders late in the second quarter to take a 10-point lead going into the halftime break.

The Lady Bulldogs went on a 23-4 run in the third quarter to open their lead to 59-30. In the final eight minutes of the contest, Decatur managed to hold Eureka Springs to only three-points and bring home a 62-33 victory.

"I thought that our girls prepared well for our first road game since coming back from the holiday break," said Jeff Melton, Lady Bulldog coach. "The girls came out to start the game with a competitive mindset that has evaded us up until this point in the season and, after making some adjustments at the half, we played well enough to walk out of a difficult environment with a "W." Defensively, we did a really good job not giving up easy baskets and allowing only one opportunity per possession. Offensively we had some girls really step up and perform in unselfish ways, which can be a struggle for young teams."

Senior Cameron Shaffer achieved a personal best with her first double-double of her high school career. Shaffer made 27 points on 12 of 16 shots from the field and had 11 rebounds, to lead the Lady Bulldogs to this much needed victory.

Jackie Herrera also achieved one of her best starts for the season, making 12 points on six of nine shots from the field, with seven rebounds. Along with Herrera, Paige Vann contributed to the Lady Bulldog win, scoring 11 points and grabbing seven rebounds.

"We talk a lot about this season being a process and how we need to be playing our best basketball by the time we get to January," Melton said. "I think we are starting to see our hard work and grit shine through, and we are looking forward to seeing how the rest of our season plays out."

The Lady Bulldogs' next contest was the colors day game against the St. Paul Saints at Peterson Gym in Decatur on Jan. 20.

It was a close game as the Lady Bulldogs jumped out to a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter. While the second quarter got off to a slow start with neither team scoring in the first two minutes of play, both teams began playing hard late in the quarter and Decatur managed a 24-17 lead over St. Paul by halftime.

During the third quarter, the Lady Saints had a 7-3 run against Decatur to trail by only three going into the final quarter.

The Lady Bulldogs held on to their slim lead during the final eight minutes of play, until the 1:28 mark when the Lady Saints pulled within three points once again. Desi Meek intercepted a pass at mid-court and ran the ball down to the left wing but lost the ball. St. Paul tried to capitalize on the turnover but missed the shot. Meek was fouled as she tried for a three-pointer. She hit all three free throws, giving Decatur a five point lead with 35 seconds left in the contest. The Lady Saints tried in vain to score, but a foul on Meek with only seconds left proved too much as she hit both shots, sealing the victory, 43-36.

Leading the scoring was Shaffer with 15, followed by Vann with 11, Herrera with 10 and Meek with seven.

The Lady Bulldogs are now 3 and 13 overall and 1-4 in district play going into the Jan. 24 away game at Alpena.

Decatur returns to Peterson Gym Jan. 27 to take on the Lady Tigers of Lead Hill. Game time is 5:30 p.m. For a complete list of remaining Lady Bulldog games, go to decatursd.com/athletics/schedule.

Sports on 01/25/2017