Lady Bulldogs gain valuable experience

LINCOLN — The offseason can be a time to learn new shooting techniques and work out any kinks in the team’s game plan before the start of the regular season in November, and the Lady Bulldogs traveled to Lincoln to participate in the Lady Wolves team camp July 21 with the Greenland Lady Pirates and the host team from Lincoln.

The camp was divided into three sections, a 20-minute game with a running clock, a shoot-off and a game situation

A coin toss between Greenland and Lincoln decided Decatur’s first opponent of the morning, the Lady Pirates.

Greenland jumped out into the lead and overwhelmed Decatur, 18-4.

In the final game of the day, Decatur-Lincoln, the Lady Wolves took an early 8-2 lead in the first five minutes of the contest. In the final 10 minutes, the Lady Bulldogs stepped up its defense and held the Lady Wolves to six points while shooting 15 points to close the gap. But time ran out before Decatur could take the lead. Lincoln took the victory, 20-19.

The next segment of the camp was a shoot-off. This involved the entire team on both sides. The shootoff began on the right wing just behind the three-point line. Each team had to hit three shots before they could move to the next shooting station. Once the team finished all five stations, the team shifted to the opposite goal, where they completed all five stations.

The team that completed three shots on all 10 stations won the shoot-out. The Lady Bulldogs won one of the three shoot-off contests.

The final segment of the camp was the game situation. Two teams would face a fourth period scenario with two minutes left to play. The guests were either up by five or down by five points. The goal was to find ways to build points to take the lead or maintain the lead to win the simulation.

Decatur came away from the camp stronger and more experienced — important because, when the Lady Bulldogs take to the court for their first game of the 2017-18 basketball season, they expect to do so with no seniors, two juniors and seven sophomores. The team plans to work hard on shooting, a weakness exposed by the camp.

The regular season begins for the Lady Bulldogs on Nov. 15 when they travel to West Fork to take on the Lady Tigers in the Tiger Dome for a benefit game. For a complete 2017-18 basketball schedule go to decatursd.com/athletic/ basketballschedule.

Photo by Mike Eckels Decatur’s Paige Vann (left) moved along the baseline in an attempt to find an open Decatur player during the team camp at the Lincoln High School gym in Lincoln July 21. The Greenland Lady Pirates won the contest, 18-4, over the Lady Bulldogs.

Photo by Mike Eckels Sammy Skaggs (Decatur 24) slipped between two Lady Wolves’ players on her way to the basket for a layup during a team camp contest in the gym at Lincoln High School on July 21.