No. 2 versus No. 4 in the state.

What could be better than that?

Apparently not much. It was equal amounts of Decatur fans on one side and Federal Way on the other that packed a sold-out gym to watch the Eagles beat the Gators, 64-57, in a South Puget Sound League North battle of undefeateds Thursday.

The Eagles improved to 7-0, only behind Franklin in the 4A boys state rankings. The Gators still are plenty good, at 9-1 now, and should not drop too much in the polls because of playing on the road and hanging in there much of the game against a very, very talented Eagles team that used a 11-point better third quarter as the difference in this game.

Eagles coach Jerome Collins said it was everything he expected in a game of basketball that started off with the Eagles ahead and then the Gators and then the Eagles and then the Gators. Then the Eagles led, 26-23, going into halftime.

"You can throw ratings out the window in a game like this," said Collins. "It comes down to which team wants it the most in a rivalry like this."

"Defense. Coach put in our heads that we could play tough defense," said Eagles captain Terrell Smith, a 6-5 senior guard who scored the most points of any player on either team in both the first and second quarters -- seven in the first, eight in the second, not to mention four in the third and a game-high 24. "Defense is what did it. Coach told me to get my defense going and my offense would come and the rest of the guys would get confidence and follow my lead."

That's what happened, as there was balanced scoring for the Eagles.

Senior Marques Hollins chipped in 17 points and Aaron Broussard corralled a lot of big rebounds -- 13 total -- and also scored his usual double double with 12 points to go with his other positive stats.

The defense for the Eagles really clamped down on the Gators in the third quarter. They allowed the Gators only nine points while putting 20 in. In that time, Broussard was big on offense, rebounding the ball three times on one play before being fouled. Then he made more free throws after being fouled right after that.

The Eagles led, 48-33, going into the fourth.

"Tough to play down by so much," said Gators coach Kevin Olson. "They deserved to win, They handled the pressure a little better. They showed a little more composure."

These teams will meet in Gator Country Friday, Jan. 26.

Trey Williams did well, being second highest scorer for the Gators, scoring two more than his 10 point per game average this season. He says that when the two meet again it will be different.

"Oh yeah, in our house," he said. "We have a good team. The reason for our success is that everyone plays for the front of the jersey, not the back (where the name and number is). We will get them next time. Definitely at our house. Tonight they were the better team."

Added Olson, "We're in good shape, 9-1. We've beaten some good teams, Kentwood, Kentridge. We just have to improve in some key areas. They outplayed us today."