Lady Warriors roll over Lady Bulldogs
DECATUR — Jeremy Schopper, girls’ head coach, and the six-member Lady Bulldog team were outmatched even before the contest began as they played host to the Life Way Lady Warriors at home in Peterson Gym at Decatur Jan. 26. By the end of the 32-minute conference contest, Life Way walked away with a second big victory over the Lady Bulldogs this season.
Life Way is currently in fourth place in the 2A Region 1 conference going into the final two weeks of the regular season. Decatur is currently ninth.
The Lady Warriors came into the Tuesday night contest with an advantage over the Lady Bulldogs, numbers. Whereas the Lady Bulldogs only had one extra player to rotate in when needed, the Lady Warriors had four extra players, which translates into more rest time for the starters. This was evident during Decatur’s loss to the Lady Warriors in Centerton on Dec. 8, 2020, and it played a big factor in this contest.
Just 12 seconds into the first quarter, Lady Warrior Hallie Moseley hit a jumper from the right side of the lane for the first field goal for Life Way and the first of the contest. At the 7:20 mark, Abigail Schopper was fouled, sending her to the line for two free throws. She missed the first but hit the second for the Lady Bulldogs’ first point of the night. She would hit a three-point field goal a short time later for the only points Decatur made during the first quarter, giving Life Way an 18-4 edge.
The Lady Warriors’ fast pace wore down the Lady Bulldogs enough that the five starters together only scored 11 points in the second quarter, allowing the Lady Warriors to carry a sizable 37-15 lead going into the half time break.
Decatur simply ran out of steam in the second half, only scoring a single point on a free throw by Jazmine Herrera. The Life Way Christian Lady Warriors took the conference win, 58-16, over the Decatur Lady Bulldogs.
Only three Decatur Lady Bulldogs scored during the 32-minute contest. Anabelle Schopper led the way with nine, followed by her sister Abigail with six and Jazmine Herrera with one.
The Life Way Lady Warriors had two players in double figures for the night. Hallie Moseley had 21 points, followed by Abby Moseley with 17. Rounding out the Lady Warrior scoring effort were Sydney Banner and Lilly Moseley, each with six, Braydin Fulcher and Callie Hall, each with three, and Addie Russell with two.
The Decatur Lady Bulldogs junior high girls’ team had a stellar night as the team defeated the Life Way Lady Warriors junior high team, 37-14.
Leading the way in scoring for the Decatur junior girls was Sunshine Thor with 12 points, followed by Sydney Brooks with eight and Larelai Tuinstra with seven. Others contributing points to the scoring effort included Shaylee Morales with four, Priya James, Cali Harrington and Ariana Kumbera, each with two.
The Life Way junior high girls had three players who contributed to the scoring effort. They were Gracyn Moore with eight, Esther Wilson and Kara Zank each with three.