Decatur proved itself to be the master of the 16 minute "mini-games" on Tuesday, February 9, to end the previous chaos of seeding places and claim the SPSL Class 4A South second seed.

Entering the evening, the Gators were knotted with Todd Beamer and Puyallup at 12-4 at the end of the regular season of boys basketball. Each squad had split the head-to-head encounters, thus necessitating the turbulent action at Auburn High School.

After Decatur had edged out Beamer in two eight minute quarters and an additional four minute overtime, it then broke away early and never looked back in a comfortable 38-20 dissection of Puyallup to earn a coveted No. 2 seed.

The Gators face Kentwood Thursday at 5 p.m. in opening SPSL 4A tournament action at the Showare Center in Kent with no less than a fifth seed guaranteed to the district tournament. Two consecutive wins at the league tournament would produce a No. 2 SPSL seed to the district tournament.

Although all 10 SPSL playoff teams are promised slots in the West Central District tournament, second place in the South brings an additional benefit.

"We're now guaranteed a home game in the first round of districts, and that's huge," Decatur head coach Kevin Olson said.

Decatur trailed Puyallup 8-6 before the defense forced poor Viking shooting and accelerated the Gator quick transitioning offensive machine. Whipping quick passes for back door, cutting baskets or short range jump shots while continuing to suffocate the Puyallup shooters, Decatur rocked the Vikings' world on both ends of the court for 19 consecutive points while imprisoning the Vikings for just more than six minutes of scorelessness from the 2:25 left in the first quarter to 3:29 remaining in the "second half" quarter.

The Gators added an X-factor during the 19-0 run in the emergence of Dom Hunter, who nailed a pair of three-pointers, scored on a rebound basket and converted a free throw. This prompted Olson to make an observation.

"Hunter's a really good three-point shooter and he sort of came on at the end of the season to have some good games," said Olson. "This is a good sign for us going into districts. We had better control of their shooters and felt we had an advantage by playing the first game, because we were ready to go. We turned a disadvantage into an advantage."

Jerron Smith scored 11 points with 7-of-7 from the foul line. Hunter earned nine points while Terrell Williams notched eight points with four assists.

"We just worked it," stated Williams. "We knew we were better. We just had to show it by picking it up. Ever since Anthony Williams became eligible, we've been coming on."

In the first mini-game, Decatur encountered considerably more problems in a 44-38 win against the team it had conquered the week before to throw the South standings into the confusion that this night's action filtered out.

Following a back-and-forth battle that ended in a 13-13 draw after one quarter against Todd Beamer, we had better control of their shooters and felt that playing the first game was an advatage for us because we were ready to go.

Beamer, the Gators capitalized on turnovers, much the same way they had done against the Titans at Decatur. Jordan McCloud, Jerron Smith and Terrell Williams scored on consecutive baskets to draw Decatur ahead 19-13.

Beamer closed within 19-16 only to see Smith and Anthony Williams notch baskets to increase the margin to 23-16 with 2:32 remaining in regulation.

Kevin Davis scored inside to start a five-point Titan surge that brought Beamer close at 23-21. The teams traded points in the game that seemed to move at warp speed until McCloud's, lay up that he launched while falling forward to the gym floor gave the Gators a 29-25 lead.

"I was relying more on my jump shot the first quarter," recalled McCloud. "Then I started going inside."

Vlad Aficiuc brought the game to 29-27 with 18.8 seconds remaining. Less than two seconds later, Decatur had a chance to pull away, but missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw chance. Vlad Aficiuc rebounded the missed charity toss and Beamer called time out before inbounding from the side in back court with 13.8 seconds left. The Titans were able to pass the ball inside to 6-foot-8 inch Kevin Davis, who scored with 1.3 seconds remaining to force the four-minute overtime.

Clinging to a 36-35 edge midway through overtime, the Gators finally finished the job.

Jordan McCloud attacked the middle from the right side for a bucket ahead of an Anthony Williams free throw and Decatur led 39-35 with 1:18 left. A missed Beamer three-pointer led to Robert Oliver's pair of coverted free throws for the Gators ahead of McCloud's field goal that capped a 7-0 surge and sent Decatur into a 43-35 dominance en route to the 44-38 win.

"We settled on defense and just attacked," declared Jerron Smith. "Both teams came out strong."

It was a good conclusion for Decatur in a game that nearly got away.

"We didn't finish (in regulation), but it was a good game where we just made more plays," Olson said.

Beamer finished in fourth place in the South seeding and will play Auburn Riverside at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Showare Center. The winner will be the No. 7 seed to district, the loser No. 8.

The game was so fast, we just let guys get away for too many easy baskets," said Beamer head coach Brent Brilhante. "They got too many easy baskets and we missed shots we normally make in the paint. Those shots we gave up were the difference."

McCloud and Smith scored 13 points apiece while McCloud recovered eight rebounds. Anthony Williams grabbed 13 rebounds-five offensive-to go with seven points.

Terrelle Loggins lead Beamer with 12 points, while Davis added 10.