DECATUR -- The Decatur basketball program played host to the 2A Region 1 Junior High District Basketball tournament at Peterson Gym in Decatur Feb. 6-7, 9. Boys' and girls' teams from Yellville-Summit, Flippin, Eureka Springs, Cotter and Decatur attended the three-day event.
Day one action pitted the Decatur Junior High Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs against longtime rival, Eureka Springs.
In game one, the Eureka Springs Junior Lady Highlanders claimed the win over Decatur, advancing to the second round Feb. 7 and ending the Decatur girls' season.
In game two, the Decatur boys overwhelmed Eureka Springs, 48-13, to advance to the second round, facing the Yellville Summit Panthers.
In the Bulldog-Panther contest Feb. 7 the Decatur boys scored first on a layup by Edger Herrera and continued building on their lead while holding Yellville scoreless until the three-minute mark of the quarter when a free throw put the Yellville boys on the scoreboard. Both teams continued to battle it out for the remainder of the quarter, with Decatur gaining the advantage by one going into the second.
Yellville fought back in the second quarter and eventually gained the lead from Decatur by four points at the halftime break.
The battle continued throughout the second half with Decatur trailing Yellville by as much as six going into the final four minutes of the contest. With two minutes remaining, Decatur tied the contest at 39 all. Decatur held Yellville at bay for the next minute, still tied at 39 each. The junior Panthers hit a pair of back-to-back field goals to lead by four going into the final 30 seconds. A series of simple errors by Decatur gave Yellville the ball and it held on to take the win, 43-39, eliminating the Decatur Junior High Bulldogs from the district tournament and ending their season.
Leading the junior Bulldogs in scoring was Andres Revolorio with 11, followed by Edger Herrera with nine and Kevin Sanchez with eight. Others contributing to the scoring effort included Christian Rameriz with six and Enrique Rubi with five.
The junior high Bulldogs finished the season 6-8 overall and 1-1 in tournament play.
The junior high district championship went to the Cotter Warriors and Lady Warriors with the Yellville boys and Flippin girls taking second.
Sports on 02/13/2019