Bulldogs play in Colcord summer basketball league

COLCORD, Okla. — The Decatur Bulldog senior boys’ basketball team began its off-season summer basketball program June 6 when it traveled to Colcord, Okla., to participate in the Colcord High School summer basketball league.

Over the past few summers, John Unger, Decatur’s head basketball coach, has taken his players to several team camps and summer league programs to give his returning players more game time against teams of varying experience levels while acclimating his new sophomore class to the high school ranks. These programs help the Bulldog players and coaching staff work out any kinks in the game plan and experiment with new ideas before the regular season begins in late November.

The Bulldogs were scheduled to meet both the Colcord Hornets and the Oaks Warriors in the opening day of the event, which is scheduled to take place every Tuesday beginning at 10 a.m. However, the Oaks coach had an unforeseen emergency, forcing his team to withdraw and leaving only Decatur and Colcord to compete.

Instead of playing two full basketball games, the Colcord and Decatur coaches agreed to hold a series of eight-minute scrimmages, six in all. These short scrimmages allowed both teams to pick up valuable game experience while aiding the coaches to expose weaknesses and render solutions to the teams’ offensive and defensive game plans.

The Hornets won four scrimmages, while the Bulldogs took two.

The Decatur Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs were to return to the Colcord High School gym June 13 at 10 a.m. for the second day of the Colcord summer league.

For more information, go to decatursd.com. Scrimmage scores: 1. Colcord 11, Decatur 7 2. Decatur 11, Colcord 6 3. Decatur 8, Colcord 7 4. Colcord 14, Decatur 11 5. Colcord 12, Decatur 10 6. Colcord 22, Decatur 11

Photo by Mike Eckels Decatur’s Taylor Haisman scores on a layup during the Colcord summer league matchup between Decatur Bulldogs and Colcord Hornets.

Photo by Mike Eckels Decatur’s Kelvin Moreno (center) slips between Decatur’s Ryan Ross (left) and two Hornet players after recovering a missed pass during a scrimmage basketball contest with the Colcord Hornets at Colcord High School on June 6.

Photo by Mike Eckels Decatur’s Levi Newman (center) fights his way through a pair of Hornet defenders during a Bulldog-Hornet scrimmage game.

Photo by Mike Eckels Decatur’s Taylor Haisman makes a break toward the basket during the BulldogHornet matchup June 6.