Josh Smith and the No. 2 SPSL North Kentwood Conquerors hit the accelerator quickly to drive past the No.2 SPSL South Decatur Gators 62-42 in Thursday, February 9th SPSL boys basketball tournament action at the Showare Center.

The 6-foot, 9-inch Smith, who signed with UCLA and was named to the McDonald's All-American team on Thursday, tallied 21 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked four shots against Decatur.

"Give credit to Smith and Kentwood," said Gator head coach Kevin Olson. "They outplayed us on both ends of the court. They're just playing really well right now. They're utilizing Josh and I don't think anyone can guard him mano a mano. They had a hard time handling the press at some of those national tournaments, but they're not having any trouble now. Josh is just unbelievable."

Smith scored nine points and guard Tre Tyler nailed back-to-back three-point goals at the end of the first quarter, giving the Conquerors a 21-8 lead. From that point, Kentwood raced away from radar range of the Gators, extending its lead to a game high 48-19 halfway through the third quarter with starters getting long rest periods before Decatur (14-7, 16-7 including mini-games) closed strongly to get within 55-39 on a Jordan McCloud inside bucket with 3:09 left in the third quarter. The Conquerors (12-9) reinserted some of the starters to stall the comeback attempt.

Decatur will play the winner of Friday's battle of North and South third seeds on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Showare Center for the league's fourth and fifth seeds to the West Central District tournament

Operating without starter Anthony Williams for the game, the Gators shot a frigid 27.1 per cent from the field after ending the first half at 21.1 per cent. Kentwood converted 14-of-27 field goal tries for a 51.9 conversion percentage in the first half and finished with 47.2 per cent.

Jordan McCloud paced Decatur with 13 points and four rebounds while Terrell Williams added 10 points and seven rebounds. Jerron Smith sank 7-of-7 free throws as part of his nine points on an off night of field goal shooting.

Tre Tyler closed with 12 points to contribute to the Kentwood cause.