The Decatur Gators guaranteed their home gym, the Gator Dome, will host one more game this basketball season Tuesday night by rolling to a pair of mini-game victories at Auburn High School.

Decatur outlasted Beamer and Puyallup Tuesday, winning two 16-minute “games” to earn the South Puget Sound League South Division’s second seed into the SPSL Tournament.

The three teams all finished 12-4 in conference play and in a dead heat for second place during the regular season. Decatur, Puyallup and Beamer also split their head-to-head meetings, necessitating the mini-playoff.

The Gators dispatched Beamer in overtime in the first game, and then blasted Puyallup in the second game, 38-20. Puyallup earned the bye because the Vikings beat SPSL South champ Curtis during the regular season.

Decatur will now take on the Kentwood Conquerors, the second-place team fro the SPSL North, at 5 p.m. at Kent’s ShoWare Center Thursday in the opening round of the SPSL Tournament.

But, even more important, the second-place finish in the South guarantees the Gators a home game in the first round of the rugged West Central District Tournament.

Beamer opens its postseason against Auburn Riverside at 11 a.m. Saturday at the ShoWare Center in a battle between the two fourth-place teams. The winner will advance to districts as the SPSL’s seventh seed and the loser will be the eighth.

Tuesday, the Gators used a dominating 19-0 run to turn an 8-6 deficit to Puyallup into a 25-6 advantage. During Decatur’s onslaught, the Gators held the Vikings scoreless for nearly seven minutes.

Sophomore guard Dom Hunter keyed the run with nine points and junior point guard Terrell Williams chipped in 10 for the Gators.

Things were a little tougher against Beamer in the opening 16-minute game in Auburn. The Titans forced overtime during the mini-game when 6-foot-8 senior Kevin Davis tied the game with 1 second left on the clock in regulation.

But Decatur dominated the overtime session, outscoring Beamer 15-9. Decatur’s two leading scorers, Jordan McCloud and Jerron Smith, scored 13 points apiece to lead the Gators.

Senior guard Terelle Loggins led Beamer with 12 points, while Davis chipped in 10 points.

The loss dropped Beamer into the fourth-place slot from the SPSL South. The Titans will play Auburn Riverside at 11 a.m. Saturday at the ShoWare Center. The winner will be the No. 7 seed into West Central Districts and the loser will be the eighth.

SPSL Girls Basketball Tie-breaker: Kentwood 61, Federal Way 50

Just to tell you how amazingly rugged the SPSL North Division was this season is the fact that the Federal Way Eagles are the division’s third-place team.

Federal Way (17-4) just didn’t have enough in the end against the Conquerors (17-4) Tuesday night at Tahoma High School in a SPSL tiebreaker game to determine the North’s second and third seeds into the league tournament. The two teams split their two regular-season meetings and finished with identical 13-3 division records.

Fourth-ranked Kentwood outscored the Eagles 17-7 in the fourth quarter Tuesday night. The Conquerors led by only one point entering the final eight minutes, but Kylie Huerta and Sanda Milovic were too much down the stretch for Federal Way. Huerta finished with 19 points and Milovic chipped in 16 for the defending Class 4A state champions.

Things started off nice for the Eagles Tuesday. Federal Way bolted out to a 20-10 lead after the first quarter before the Conks cut the advantage to just four at halftime, 33-29.

The Eagles were led by the 13 points of sophomore guard Darah Huertas-Vining. Junior guard Chantel Dixon chipped in 10.

Despite being the consensus second-ranked team in the state, the Eagles will enter next week’s West Central District Tournament as either the SPSL’s fourth, fifth or sixth seed. Federal Way will take on the Puyallup Vikings (15-6) at 8 p.m. at Thomas Jefferson Friday in the opening round of the SPSL Tournament. Puyallup finished in a tie for second in the SPSL South Division, but also lost a tiebreaker Tuesday to Rogers, 52-41. The Federal Way-Puyallup winner will play again at 2:30 p.m. at the ShoWare

Kentwood will take on Rogers at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Kent’s ShoWare Center.

SPSL Basketball Tournament

Thursday, February 11 (at Showare Center)

Game 1: Girls Kentwood (North #2) vs Rogers (South #2), 3:30 p.m.; Winner to Game #14, Loser to Game #11

Game 2: Boys Kentwood (North #2) vs Decatur (South #2), 5 p.m.; Winner to Game #13, Loser to Game #12

Game 3: Boys Federal Way (North #1) vs Curtis (South #1), 6:30 p.m.; Winner is SPSL #1, Loser to Game #13

Game 4: Girls Auburn Riverside (North #1) vs Bethel (South #1), 8 p.m.; Winner is SPSL #1, Loser to Game #14

Friday, Feb. 12

At Thomas Jefferson

Game 5: Girls Graham-Kapowsin (South #5) vs Auburn (North #5), 6 p.m.; SPSL #9, SPSL#10

Game 6: Girls Puyallup (South #3) vs. Federal Way (North #3), 8 p.m.; Winner to Game #11, Loser is SPSL #6

At Bethel

Game 7: Boys Auburn (North #5) vs. Bethel (South #5), 6 p.m.; SPSL #9, SPSL #10

Game 8: Boys Kentridge (North #3) vs. Puyallup (South #3), 8 p.m.; Winner to Game #12, Loser is SPSL #6

Saturday, February 13 (at Showare Center)

Game 9: Boys Auburn Riverside (North #4) vs Beamer (South #4), 11 a.m.; SPSL #7, SPSL #8

Game 10: Girls Kentlake (North #4) vs Emerald Ridge (South #4), 12:30 p.m.; SPSL #7, SPSL #8

Game 11: Girls Winner Gm 6 vs Loser Gm 1, 2:30 p.m.; SPSL #4, SPSL #5

Game 12: Boys Winner Gm 8 vs Loser Gm 2, 4 p.m.; SPSL #4, SPSL #5

Game 13: Boys Winner Gm 2 vs Loser Gm 3, 6 p.m.; SPSL #2, SPSL #3

Game 14: Girls Winner Gm 1 vs Loser Gm 4, 7:30 p.m.; SPSL #2, SPSL #3

Prices:

$8 Adults / Student w/o ASB

$5 Student w/ ASB

$3 Senior / Child 12 and under