Lincoln Varsity, JV Tangle With Decatur

November 28, 2018 at 4:00 a.m.

by Mike Eckels

MIKE ECKELS NWA NEWSPAPERS Decatur's Kaylee Morales (right) strips the ball away from Lincoln's Arianna Ortiz as she drives towards the basket during the Lincoln versus Decatur Junior Varsity contest in Lincoln Nov. 21. Both Decatur and Lincoln JV participated in the fifth place round of the Turkey Shoot Basketball Tournament at Lincoln High School.
MIKE ECKELS NWA NEWSPAPERS Decatur's Kaylee Morales (right) strips the ball away from Lincoln's Arianna Ortiz as she drives towards the basket during the Lincoln versus Decatur Junior Varsity contest in Lincoln Nov. 21. Both Decatur and Lincoln JV participated in the fifth place round of the Turkey Shoot Basketball Tournament at Lincoln High School.

LINCOLN -- The Decatur Lady Bulldogs had a busy schedule ahead of them when the team traveled to Lincoln to participate in the first annual Turkey Shoot Nov 19-21. They faced off against the Lincoln Lady Wolves and junior varsity Lady Wolfpack as well as the Elkins Lady Elks.

First up was the Nov. 19 Lady Bulldogs versus Lady Wolves game in the opening round of the tournament played in the gym at Lincoln High School. The Lady Wolves jumped out in front of Decatur in the early stages of the first quarter, holding the Lady Bulldogs scoreless until the last minutes of play. At the end of the quarter the Lady Wolves held a commanding 24-2 lead over the Lady Bulldogs.

Both Decatur's offense and defense picked up the pace but were unable to gain any ground on the lead. Lincoln and Decatur went into the locker room at halftime with the Lady Wolves holding a 22-point lead (37-15) over the Lady Bulldogs.

Decatur played a much better second half but was unable to cut away at the Lincoln lead. Lincoln defeated Decatur 61-29 to advance to the semi-final game in the winner's bracket. The Lady Bulldogs dropped into the losers bracket to square-off against the Elkins Lady Elks Nov. 20.

Jessica Goldman scored 17 and Robin Kirk added 13 for Lincoln.

Leading the scoring drive for Decatur was Sammie Skaggs with nine, followed by Annabelle Schopper with six and Destiny Mejia with five.

Decatur lost to Elkins 66-51, which advanced to the third place game while the Lady Bulldogs faced off against the Lincoln Lady Wolfpack junior varsity team for fifth place.

Decatur played one of its best games of the tournament Nov. 21. Unlike previous contests, Decatur came out strong and grabbed the early lead in the first quarter. The Lincoln Lady Wolfpack was able to tie the Lady Bulldogs in the final seconds of the second quarter.

The third quarter proved to be the deciding factor in the contest. Lincoln jumped out in front by eight going into the final quarter. Decatur was never able to recover and the Lincoln Lady Wolfpack took the contest 48-43 for fifth place while the Decatur Lady Bulldogs finished the tournament in sixth.

Sports on 11/28/2018