Last season, the Decatur High School girls basketball team snuck their way into the state tournament, and as a 14 seed in the district tournament, they upset Bellarmine Prep in the first round, then punched their ticket in a grind-it-out win 36-26 over Auburn Mountainview.
But their season came to a close in the regional round against Roosevelt in a 67-23 loss.
This year, the goal for Head Coach Morris Anderson is to get one step further: the Tacoma Dome. That goal has eluded him in his time at Decatur, but it’s not due to lack of trying. Decatur has made the regional round of the state tournament two out of the last three seasons, but has yet to make the Tacoma Dome.
“My girls stick it out for me, they ride it out for me. Girls were sick during that run who probably shouldn’t have played, but I am so happy they did. But to make it there with 11 girls in the program says a lot about the kids we have,” Anderson said. “I look at it right now as tournament or bust.”
Not only did Decatur have 11 players in the entire program last season, but Anderson only has one assistant, Aaron Dotson.
Jayda Thomas plays defense during a drill at practice for Decatur. Ben Ray / The Mirror
Iyanna Waltar will be the catalyst for this year’s Decatur side. The senior guard has a lot on her plate, but has taken the challenge head on. She’s seen what it takes to win, and how to pull Decatur out of the depths of despair. (Decatur had eight wins in 2024-25, the fewest in her career, but made the state tournament).
“Knowing I am the leader and how the girls look up to me, I have mostly been focused on my attitude and my effort. I know that in hard moments I need to stay positive and uplift my teammates because they are looking up at me,” Waltar said.
The Gators need Waltar to be their leader and she’s looking to take them to the promised land.
“This year she is a team captain and we are just putting a lot of trust and faith in her. Last year she stepped up real big rebounding for us as one of the point guards. This year we are really relying on her,” Anderson said.
To start the 2025-26 season, the Gators headed to Auburn High School to take on the Trojans on Nov. 26 and face a perennial state tournament team. The Gators have White River and Enumclaw on their schedule and games like Auburn can prepare them for those teams.
“We have had good teams in the past, but just haven’t been able to get over that hump, so we are looking to do that this year. Our non-league schedule is kind of tough, but we want it all. The whole point it trying to hold that gold ball up at the end of the day,” Anderson said.
Playing in the Glacier Peak tournament and against Auburn and Bellevue gives Decatur a glimpse at state tournament quality teams and what could await them down the stretch. But most importantly it shows them the speed at which those teams play.
“It prepares us for the pace of how fast those teams play and how hard they can be and the level of competition they will be. It will prepare us for what is in league and help motivate us,” Waltar said.
This season the Gators do have a bit of youthful energy that can bolster and deepen the roster. Freshman Avaieya Sinclair and sophomore Autumn Glover, a transfer from Bellarmine, look to make an impact in the back court for Anderson.
Avaieya Sinclair plays defense during a drill at Decatur practice. Ben Ray / The Mirror
“Sinclar’s got game you know, shout out to her previous coaches and all that. We are putting a lot of trust in her and she can really be great. As long as she lets us give her the game and soak it all in, she will be fine,” Anderson said.
Decatur had just Jayda Thomas last season who was really a threat beyond the arc shooting wise, but Glover can be another supplemental piece alongside Thomas this season.
“Autumn is coming in as a good shooter for us, something we kind of missed last year. If we had a shooter we could have gone a little further, but she’s helping us out in that aspect,” Anderson said.
Sinclair even played some with Waltar this summer and impressed her then. Now that it’s time for the school season to begin, Walter is really looking forward to seeing what the freshman can do.
“I’ve played with her over the summer. She played up with 17-year olds and came in and proved herself that she should be there. Now she is proving herself here to be a freshman on varsity. I’m excited to see how she plays,” Waltar said of Sinclair.
Having depth and a really solid program is a big change from last year, when during multiple stretches the Gators had sometimes six to seven eligible players on varsity.
“We had a very hard season (last season) with multiple injuries and at most six people with us playing. I feel like that was confidence boosting making it that far with six people. Now we have a good roster with 20 people and 10 on each team. Having bodies that can go in and out, will be great,” Waltar said.
