Decatur's boys basketball team took another step toward great improvement from the last two seasons, (6-14 and 8-12 records) as the current 2005-06 Gators moved to 17-5 with a South Puget Sound League loser-out playoff win over Enumclaw, 66-60, at Puyallup High School Thursday.

What's been the difference in this season from the previous two is simple.

Experience. The sophomores of the first season became juniors the second season and are now seniors this season.

Gators head coach Kevin Olson knew things would be different from the start of the season.

"These guys are seniors," said Olson. "It's their time."

Gators 6-0 senior guard Andrew Kim effectively countered the Hornets' fast feet of Julio Fernandez, who scored the first 12 points for the Hornets. In response to Fernandez's feat, Kim scored 11 of the Gators' 17 first quarter points, three three-pointers, too, and that made it a 17-15 Gators lead after one.

In the same time as Kim shot lights out, Gators 6-6 senior post JaRon Brown did a couple big things. He scooped up a big offensive rebound to make momentum continue the Gators' way. They trailed 2-0 before Kim swished a three from the top of the key and then Brown made it 5-2. Brown scored one other bucket off a teammate's miss, that made it 12-8 Gators, a little later, with two minutes left in the first quarter.

"I'm really proud of Andrew and us seniors stepping up, especially Andrew, and Darius, and Tristan," said Brown.

All three played big in this game. Walker scored a basket in that first quarter and dunked another shot later on in the third quarter and corralled 11 boards for the game and 10 points, a double-double for him. Brown, though sitting out all the second quarter, hauled in nine boards to go with 16 points.

Yes, the Hornets received a blessing not in disguise when Brown picked up a second foul with 1:54 left in the first quarter. That big-man void led to three easy, inside-the-paint buckets that cut the Gators' 15-9 lead to.

The game stayed pretty close, with the Gators never trailing. They led 34-33 after the second quarter, and 51-46 after the third expired. In that third quarter, the Gators built a 48-38 advantage with 3:45 left in the third. But the Hornets came storming back to make it 48-46 with 1:55 left. That was when Brown caught a Kim pass beyond the arc and let it fly. Swoooosh !.

"I'm not really a three-point shooter but coach allows me to shoot it if I have my feet set," said Brown.

It really was breathing room to go into the fourth quarter not sweating quite so much, even though the Hornets definitely were not through, down six entering the fourth. First off, a three-pointer from C.J. Fitzpatrick made it a one-point ballgame and that was with 6:54 left in the fourth. That was when Olson called a timeout. He drew a play for Brown, who nailed a five-foot jumper from the baseline, was fouled and hit the bonus to make it 54-50.

"We wanted to get the ball to JaRon inside," said Olson.

It was more than that as Kim, who made all those points for the first two quarters, was 0-2 in the third quarter from three-point land and was a little cold from the field, hitting 1-of-3 field goals to go along with thankfully good free throw shooting at that time at 4-for-5 from the stripe. So, Olson not only wanted to get the ball to Brown, he needed to get the ball to his key senior and captain. His offense was about the only thing the Hornets hadn't clamped down on.

"We needed to give him the ball," said Olson.

Brown's bucket, needless to say, was huge, as the Hornets scored right after that to make it a 54-53 game. Then the Hornets tied it, 54-54, on 1-for-2 shooting from the line.

It really was the seniors that gave the Gators what they needed when they needed it most.

Kim hit a three-point shot to unlock the tie with 4:55 left in the fourth quarter and that was about the beginning of the end of the Hornets, who hurried their next shot, a lay-up, that went in and out. Kim then was fouled driving and made 1-of-2 free throws to make it 58-54. Kim then stole a pass on a sudden pressure defense from Olson, as Kim then dribbled and pulled up for a three as his follow-through motion of his arm touched the back of his defender.

The Gators were on their way, almost. Enumclaw clawed back one last effort, making a couple free throws and a layup inside to make it 61-60 after one more 2-for-2 free throw success.

After a drive and foul on Gators' sophomore Marcus Tibbs that he made 1-of-2 to make it 62-60, Gators, it was the Hornets turn to try and either take the lead or even win it in the final 54 seconds of play.

What happened was the Gators' defense forcing an outside bad shot, then a trip down the floor where the Gators turned it over. So with 34 seconds to play, Enumclaw trailed by two but still had a chance to stun the foe who led them all but the first 10 seconds of the opening quarter.

Full-court pressure defense on the inbounds pass startled and caused the Hornets guard to stop with the ball and twist and turn but not get away from senior forward Gamble's fast hands. Gamble grabbed it enough to get a jump ball call with the possession arrow pointing the Gators' way.

That was the end of the end for the Hornets, as two more Gator buckets off desperation quick threes from the Hornets sums it up.

"Coach had a great game plan for us," said Brown. "This was nothing new to us."