FAYETTEVILLE -- Junior and senior high basketball teams from Decatur and Gentry were all in action July 19-22 as they participated in Ozark Catholic Academy's team camp at the Arkansas Athletes Outreach (AAO) complex in Fayetteville.
The four-day team camp afforded players the chance to hone their basketball skills and work out any weaknesses in a game setting. It also allowed coaches to see how each player progressed during the offseason and try different types of formations to either add or subtract from the coaches' game plans. Team camp is not about winning or losing but a chance to get the team ready to play for the regular season which, for most, starts in late October or early November.
The team camp consisted of two 12-minute halves with a 60-second break in between. Each team was guaranteed three contests each. Cody Vaught, athletic director for Ozark Catholic Academy, set up the brackets for the many teams, which included Lincoln, West Fork, Fayetteville, Bentonville, Springdale, Rogers, Farmington, Gentry and Decatur.
Tyler McReynolds, assistant boys basketball coach, was at the helm for the Gentry Pioneer junior high team July 19 when it faced off with the Lincoln Wolves at court one of the AAO complex. Lincoln jumped out in front early in the first half. But late in the half, the junior high Pioneers caught fire and began inching closer to the Wolves' lead. By the short break, Gentry pulled to within four of Lincoln. The Pioneers and Wolves battled it out in the second 12 minute half. As the clock wound down in the latter stages of the contest, the Wolves pulled ahead by seven. With less than 20 seconds left, a Wolf player put the cap on the game with a three-pointer from the right-wing, giving Lincoln junior high boys a 26-16 victory.
In the next game, the junior high Pioneers took on the Farmington Cardinals. It was all Farmington as the team overwhelmed the Pioneers, holding them to only four points throughout the 24-minute contest. The Cardinals claimed the win, 45-4, over the Pioneers. No further scores were available for the remainder of the four-day event for Gentry.
Decatur, one of the smallest teams at the camp, squared off against a first-time opponent, St. Vincent Catholic Academy in Rogers. The Knights were one of the most evenly matched basketball opponents the junior high Bulldogs faced during the camp.
Decatur scored on its first possession of the contest. From that point, the Bulldogs maintained a slight lead over the Knights. By the time the first half ended, the junior high Bulldogs held a slim five-point lead, 18-13.
The Knights kicked it up a notch in the second half, grabbing the lead for the first time at the 9:16 mark, 25-24 over the Bulldogs. Decatur managed to regain the lead with just 45.6 seconds left. A field goal by the Bulldogs put the cap on the win, defeating the St. Vincent Knights, 28-26, for the first win of the event.
Up next was a more familiar opponent to the Bulldogs, the Thaden junior high Barnstormers from Bentonville.
The game started very slow with neither team gaining any kind of advantage. However, the Bulldogs managed a very slim 6-5 lead until the three-minute mark in the first half when a field goal by the Barnstormers put them up by one. Thaden's lead lasted only 30 seconds when the Bulldogs hit a pair of field goals to take a 10-7 lead at the halftime break.
The Decatur junior high Bulldogs went on to defeat the Thaden Barnstormers, 22-15, in the second win of the night.
Decatur's final opponent for the July 19 outing was the Farmington Cardinal junior high eighth-grade team. The Cardinals took control of the entire 24-minute contest, eventually defeating the Bulldogs, 39-19.
In the July 21 junior high contest, the Bulldogs squared off against the Greenland Pirates, Springdale Central Warriors seventh- and eighth-grade teams. Decatur lost all three games, bringing the team's two-day total to two wins and four losses.
The Decatur Bulldog senior boys were in action July 20 when they faced the Lincoln Wolves, Farmington Cardinals junior varsity and conference rival Life Way Christian Warriors from Centerton. Decatur fell to both Lincoln and Farmington but managed to pull off a win over the Warriors.
On day four, played July 22, Decatur faced the Thaden Barnstormers, Haas Hall Bentonville Huskies and the St. Joseph Conway Bulldogs. Thaden and St. Joseph Conway took the win over Decatur. But the Bulldogs pulled out a win over 2A conference rival Haas Hall Bentonville for a team camp record of two wins and four losses.
