Bulldogs lose two conference contests to Yellville, Cotter

DECATUR — The Decatur Bulldogs continued their losing streak last week with a pair of losses to the Yellville-Summit Panthers on the road Jan. 22 and the Cotter Warriors at home during the Colors Day contest at Peterson Gym Jan. 25.

Ryan Ross and Sammie Skaggs, leading players for their respective teams, were crowned king and queen during the Colors Day coronation ceremony prior to the start of the boys’ game.

The game started slowly with no scoring during the first three minutes, but that quickly changed at the 5:52 mark when Traver Reese hit a pair of free throws to put the Warriors on the scoreboard.

Shortly afterwards, Tafari James was fouled after his shot. Both his layup and free throw were good, giving the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the first quarter. With 40 seconds left in the quarter, the Warriors regained a 10-8 lead.

Cotter outscored Decatur, 13-5, in the second quarter and went into the halftime break up by 10.

The Bulldogs tried to keep up in the second half but couldn’t cut into the Warrior lead. Cotter took the conference win, 52-37.

Leading the scoring for the Bulldogs in the Cotter contest was Tafari James with 14, followed by Bryson Funk and Conner Sutton, each with seven. Others contributing to the Decatur scoring effort were Jose Rubi with four, Jimmy Mendoza and Sam Pilpott with two and Ryan Ross with one.

In an earlier contest, played Jan. 22, the Bulldogs faced the YellvilleSummit Panthers in a conference match on the road in Yellville. The Panthers hold the number three position in the 2A Region 1 conference race.

Decatur fell behind early in the contest against a much stronger Yellville offense. The Panthers overwhelmed the Bulldogs, 17-6, by the end of the first quarter, and were up by 13 at the half.

The third quarter sealed Decatur’s fate as Yellville accumulated 23 points while holding the Bulldog offense to only six. When the final buzzer sounded, the Yellville-Summit Panthers had devastated the Decatur Bulldogs, 57-24, and claimed the conference victory.

Leading scorer for the Decatur Bulldogs was Ryan Ross with eight points and four rebounds, followed by Conner Sutton with six.

Westside Eagle Observer/MIKE ECKELS Decatur’s Tafari James (12) tries to get up and over Issac Jones (Warriors 35) during the third quarter of the Decatur-Cotter conference basketball contest in Decatur Jan. 25. Even through James gets serious air time, the 6-foot, 4-inch Jones manages to get his fingers on the ball while standing on the court.