UNIVERSITY PLACE - Deadly three-point shooting by Curtis dropped a game and constantly battling Decatur boys basketball team 80-75 in a South Puget Sound League Southern Division boys basketball collision at Curtis Junior High in front of a packed house.

After the battle had ended, the Class 4A third state ranked Vikings (12-1 league, 16-1 overall) were within one win of the divison title while the Gators proved they can play with the best despite falling to 9-4 and 11-6. Beamer and Puyallup both stand at 9-3 in the contest for the second place playoff position.

"We played hard, we battled and I'm proud of our guys' efforts," Decatur head coach Kevin Olson declared. "(Curtis) is a really good team, and there is a reason why they are going to win the South Division. We need to execute better and make better use of our opportunities."

Good shooting overall and good ball handling kept the game at a high level of play. Decatur only turned the ball over seven times to the 12 of Curtis and also pounded the boards for a 30-26 advantage. The Vikings' 6-of-12 from three-point land turned into the key factor.

Using rebounding and quick transition, the Gators took the early lead before the teams intensely battled back and forth with a two-point margin being the biggest lead for either squad before Curtis edged ahead 18-17 after one quarter.

Back-to-back three-pointers from Dominique Williams followed by Devonte Lacy's two free throws extended the Curtis command to 29-19 early in the second quarter as Decatur missed some good inside shot opportunities.

Senior forward Jordan McCloud and guard Jerron Smith combined as a duo to direct a 7-0 Gator surge that drew Decatur within 34-32 with 1:03 remaining until halftime.

Defensively, the Gators kept hounding the Viking ball handlers.

Four straight points to end the quarter sent Decatur into the halftime break trailing 38-32. McCloud and Smith combined for 30 first half points.

Curtis established leads of up to 11 points in the third quarter, but Decatur stayed in radar range with clawing defense, narrowing the deficit to 49-44 at one time.

The Vikings pulled away to a 59-50 advantage before McCloud's three-point bomb closed out the quarter for the Gators.

Six consecutive Viking points to open the fourth quarter sent Curtis into a 65-53 dominance that later expanded to 74-60 with 2:39 remaining.

Frantically fighting both Curtis and the ever dwindling time element, Decatur chopped its disadvantage to eight, six and finally to five at 78-73 on Dom Hunter's three-point corner bomb with 11.7 seconds left.

Two free throws from Lacy cliched the bargain although the Gators' Hunter hit from outside for the final scoring.

Despite the loss, Decatur proved that on any given night it has the capability to beat any one in the South.

"We're there," concluded Olson. "We'll work on a few things and we need to play better defense. We'll get better the next two weeks."

For the Gators, despite being continually double-teamed in the post, McCloud converted 11-of-15 from the free throw line and 11-of-28 from the field -- including outside jump shots -- en route to a breakout 37 points while also recovering 13 rebounds.

Jerron Smith tallied 26 points on 11-of-28 field goal shooting and added six boards. Robert Oliver dealt out five assists.

Lacy was 4-for-6 on three-pointers while driving to the basket and going in transition for a total of 28 Viking points.

Dominique Williams scored 18 points and Julian Vaughn tallied 16.