EXETER (Mo.) -- The Decatur Lady Bulldogs struggled to get their game plan going Dec. 20 when they traveled to Exeter, Mo., to take on the Lady Tigers in the final basketball game of 2018. When the dust settled, the Lady Bulldogs found themselves on the losing end of the contest by 13 points.
The first quarter got off to a sluggish start. Neither team played particularly well in the shooting department. The quarter was scoreless for nearly 90 seconds until Exeter hit a two-pointer for the early lead. Thirty seconds later, Sammie Skaggs hit a free throw, putting the Lady Bulldogs on the scoreboard for the first time. Halfway through the quarter, the Lady Tigers found the basket and began pulling away from Decatur. By the end of the first quarter, Exeter had established a firm eight-point lead over Decatur.
The Lady Bulldogs tried to make up ground on the Lady Tigers but did not overcome the eight-point deficit. And this was as close as Decatur would get to Exeter in the first half because the Lady Tigers went on a run that nearly doubled their lead. By halftime, the Lady Tigers held a 17 point advantage over the Lady Bulldogs.
Decatur kicked into overdrive during the third quarter, holding Exeter to only two points for eight minutes. But while playing well on the defensive side of the contest, the Lady Bulldogs were only able to cut into Exeter's lead by two. The Lady Tigers went into the final eight minutes of the contest still up by six.
The Exeter Lady Tigers went on a run late in the final quarter to defeat the Decatur Lady Bulldogs, 48-35.
The Decatur Lady Bulldogs open the second half of the season on the road when they travel to Centerton to face the Life Way Lady Warriors at Life Way High School Jan. 8 in a 6 p.m. contest.
Sports on 01/02/2019