Lady Bulldogs win homecoming game against conference leader Lady Warriors
MIKE ECKELS meckels@nwadg.com
DECATUR — With a light blanket of snow on the ground around Peterson Gym in Decatur Jan. 25, there was some doubt whether the Colors Day basketball contest would go on as scheduled. But soon the doubt gave way to excitement when the two buses carrying the Cotter Lady Warriors, along with their cheer team, pulled into the high school parking lot ready to play in Decatur for the very first time.
The Cotter Lady Warriors currently hold first place in the 2A Region 1 conference race, ahead of Eureka Springs and Flippin. Decatur holds the fourth place.
It was no surprise when the Lady Warriors took control of the contest with a jumper by Sam Sanches at the 7:22 mark in the first quarter. From that point on, Cotter began building its lead while holding Decatur scoreless for five minutes of the opening quarter. That changed when Annabelle Schopper was fouled at the basket and sent to the free-throw line. She sank both shots, giving the Lady Bulldogs their first two points of the night. Schopper would sink another free throw to give the Lady Bulldogs their only points of the first quarter.
The Lady Warriors went into the second quarter up by seven and continued their domination of the Lady Bulldogs in the early going of the second quarter until a time out called by Decatur coach Fess Thompson turned the tide in Decatur’s favor. Abby Tilley launched a pair of back-to-back threepoint field goals to spark the Lady Bulldogs scoring drive and cut the Cotter lead by two at the break.
Thompson kept the Lady Bulldogs in the locker room for all but 30 seconds of the break. When they emerged for the start of the second half, the Lady Bulldogs appeared to be an entirely different team. Decatur gained control of the remainder of the contest, outscoring the Lady Warriors, 17-4, in the third and, 13-10, in the fourth quarter to defeat the number one Cotter Lady Warriors, 49-35, and take another conference victory.
Leading scorer for the Lady Bulldogs was Sammie Skaggs with 16, followed by Abby Tilley with 11, Annabelle Schopper with 10, Desi Meek with six, Destiny Mejia with four, and Paige Vann with two.
Earlier in the week, on Jan. 22, the Lady Bulldogs pulled off a win against the Yellville-Summit Lady Panthers, 39-36, in Yellville.
With both the Yellville and Cotter wins, the Decatur Lady Bulldogs are now 4-4 in the 2A, Region 1, Conference race and 7-11 overall for one of the best seasons in over six years.