The Decatur Gators’ Sarah Quantz about did it with a three-point swish...

Still 4:15 showing on the scoreboard clock in the fourth quarter, but the big, long, shot made it 43-35 and helped to silence the Emerald Ridge Jaguars for good in a 47-38 Gators home win Thursday.

The Gators improved to 2-1 in the South Puget Sound League South Division while the Jaguars dropped their first league game and are now 2-1.

You had a big shot, Sarah.

“What shot,” she said. She did lead her team in scoring with 11 points and also iced the game for the Gators with two free throws right after her three. So she could have wondered a little of what shot.

The three.

“Oh, that three,” said Quantz, who plays point guard for the Gators. “I’m more worried about turnovers, but it was a big shot.”

The biggest. As the score read, 38-27 to end the third quarter, Emerald Ridge outscored the Gators, 8-2, for a big run making it, 40-35, too close for comfort for sure after the Gators led by 11 starting out the third. That run for ER all happened in the first two minutes of the third, too.

Then it was back-and-forth play for the next two minutes. Neither team scoring, so, it was still 40-35, Gators.

Then it came...Quantz’s swish that silenced ER to doing much of nothing from then on out. Quantz’ three came with 4:15 left in the fourth quarter. And, how many points did ER score after that?

Two. And they were free throws. No baskets.

“It sealed the deal,” said Quantz.

Maybe could not have, but in this game, it did indeed.

It was a big three.

“That (shot of Quantz) spread the floor a lot better for us,” said Jade Woodke, a captain, along with Quantz, Sarah Isaac and Naret Kim -- all of the team’s seniors.

What else did Quantz’ shot do?

“It secured the lead,” said Woodke, “I think we still played tough defense, but if we slipped up it made it too hard for them to catch up.”

Five points down (40-35) looks a lot closer to the foe for inspiration to catch up than eight, especially in a game with not many points being scored.

This game started out with Emerald Ridge on a 5-0 run in the first quarter’s opening two minutes before the Gators rallied for scoring six straight points, leading 6-5, on a Woodke steal, a Kayla Lipston score, an Isaac layup and a Quantz jumper. Then, after ER scored again, Rogers ran in a running one-hander.

The score was 8-7, Gators, after the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter came and was back-and-forth scoring mostly and that consequently made the score difference about the same as the first quarter, with the Gators going into halftime with a 20-17 lead.

Getting into statistics thus far into the game, the Gators shot 45 percent on 9-for-20 shooting twos while ER shot 43 percent on 7-for-16 in the first two quarters combined. Both were 0-for-2 on three-pointers in this time. To note, Quantz missed both threes for the Gators.

In the third quarter, it was all Gators. A host of players, including 5-1 freshman guard Abby McFaul, led the way. After a nice, arcing jump shot dropped from freshman guard A’yesia Rogers to make it 22-17, sophomore Tenia Holcomb made a couple shots off the glass, to extend that Gators’ five-point lead to 26-17. ER scratched back to 26-23 before Issac scored again. The Gators’ good soccer sweeper, Isaac, this past season showed she can do things well on a different field. In fact, Isaac scored two more times right after that to make it 32-23 with three minutes left in the third.

On the second of the three Isaac scores in this time frame, the assist went to McFaul, who actually threw the ball away before it ever got to Isaac. But Mcfaul showed great composure to get the ball back despite being a young player. On the same play she lost it! And then she dished to Isaac for two. Now, after all that, McFaul, with the score 34-25, scored the Gators’ next three buckets in a row as two minutes showed on the clock for her first score, a driving layup to the basket.

McFaul is just a frosh but she does not play like it, just like in soccer where her powerful kicks were a good thing for the Gators in that sport.

“Yeah, me and the two freshmen,” said Quantz, as the three do a pretty quick three-guard set in games together, making for a good, frenetic defensive combo. “They stepped it up pretty big.”

What about McFaul? She goes and commits a turnover and, within the blink of an eye, re-steals the ball, and gets an assist. Then she goes and scores six straight points after that.

“She has heart,” said Quantz. “She knows how to play. We need that. We didn’t have that last year.”

You didn’t do well last year, you’re saying?

“No, we didn’t,” said Quantz. “Everyone can learn from Abby. She has heart and she’s learned all that from soccer. She’s a great soccer player.”

So, McFaul, Rogers, Isaac, Woodke, Holcomb, Kayla Lipston and Quantz, it kind of looks like being a cellar dweller in the SPSL South may not need to be your thing.

Maybe districts?

“Yep, that’s our goal,” said Quantz.

Some things you need to work on?

“Yeah, I need to do better with handling the ball, turnovers,” said Quantz.

The Gators did commit a few of those in this game, 13 in the first half to ER’s nine then five in the third quarter to ER’s three. But then only three for the Gators in the fourth to making ER err seven times.

Woodke said that she needs to work on things, too.

“I fouled too much,” said Woodke, who got in early foul trouble, and, along with Quantz, sat a little more than they wanted to in this one. Fortunately, both were around in the beginning and end where tone was set. Woodke corraled four rebounds in the first two quarters and that many more down the stretch when the Gators needed her 5-10 tall presence. Woodke chipped in four points.

“We are all recognizing what we need to do to individually work on things,” said Woodke.

And your coach, Kevin Rawie? Does he need to work on anything?

“He has brought us all together and emphasized us to play tough “D” and to execute the plays,” said Woodke, smiling, even doing a spin as she talked talking about her coach. “And he keeps us motivated. We have a lot of fun. He’s a good coach.”