Decatur used a strong second quarter to pull away from and eventually defeat visiting Emerald Ridge of Puyallup 63-42 in a South Puget Sound League South Division boys basketball game on Thursday night at the Gator Dome.

"I felt we were always in control," said Decatur head coach Kevin Olson. "They were able to slow us down with their zone at times."

Jordan McCloud scored 12 first half points and Jerron Smith notched nine second quarter points as the Gators controlled the inside and outside on both ends of the court to establish a lead of 10-5 after one quarter while going into halftime with a 26-13 control.

The Golden Gators stretched the margin to 31-18 after Terrance Peters nailed a fade away jump shot to cap a Decatur 5-2 scoring salvo as the second half began. At that point, Emerald Ridge started to dissect the Decatur defense for close-in shots and open jumpers as it gradually closed the gap. Seven consecutive Jaguar points had the Gators leading only 37-30 going into the third quarter.

JT Koontz used his 6-foot-9 inch frame to score a putback basket off a free throw sandwiched between a Jordan McCloud free throw and Jerron Smith's downtown three-point goal as Decatur enlarged its advantage to 43-30 to open the fourth quarter.

From that point on, the Gators raced further and further away.

"We got a little bit lazy on defense, and they were able to take advantage of that," Olson added. "Otherwise, we made the plays when we needed to make them."

McCloud burst to a game high 25 points, augmented by his 14 rebounds. Smith closed out the game with 22 points while Koontz corralled 11 caroms.