By CASEY OLSON, The Mirror
The Decatur Gators boys basketball team is officially rolling.
The Gators (3-0 SPSL North, 6-0 overall) are alone at the top of the South Puget Sound League North Division standings after downing the Kentwood Conquerors in overtime Tuesday night, 82-77.
The win over seventh-ranked Kentwood (2-1 SPSL North, 3-2 overall) ended an ultra-rugged three-game stretch for the Gators. Last week, Decatur beat third-ranked Kentridge at home Friday and then downed seventh-ranked Inglemoor at the Les Schwab Basketball Classic at Bellevue Community College Saturday.
“It was like Amen Corner with Kentridge, Inglemoor and Kentwood,” said Decatur head coach Kevin Olson. “Three games versus that many teams ranked in state only happens during the playoffs or more likely at state. It doesn’t happen very often during the early part of the regular season.”
The Gators will now travel to Kent-Meridian Tuesday and to Rogers for a non-leaguer on Dec. 21 before hosting the Harbour Homes Holiday Classic on Dec. 28 and 29 with Foss, Auburn and Puyallup.
“We can’t have any letdowns,” Olson said.
There were no letdowns against Kentwood Tuesday night, even after the Conquerors rallied late in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime.
“This game really showed that we have got some guts and got a lot of heart,” Olson said.
Kentwood had all the momentum entering the four-minute overtime period. Decatur led 66-62 with 1:33 left in regulation, but the Conquerors got a dunk by 6-foot-9 Josh Smith and sophomore guard Tre Tyler converted 1-of-2 free throws to cut the lead to 66-65 with 1:01 left.
After Jerron Smith made 1-of-2 free throws with 29.1 seconds left to push the Gator lead to 67-65, Kentwood’s Matt Eronemo put back a missed 3-pointer by Tyler to tie the game with 2.2 seconds to play. Tibbs’ desperation three-quarter court shot rimmed off, sending the game to overtime.
“That team had all the momentum heading into overtime,” Olson said. “Usually when you tie a game like that, you win. We really stepped up.”
And nobody stepped up bigger than Decatur senior guard Marcus Tibbs.
Tibbs basically took over the game in overtime after a slow start Tuesday night. The 6-footer appeased the Gator faithful in the crowd, who were chanting “Mr. Clutch” after each of his 10 overtime points. Tibbs finished with a team-high 23 points.
“He struggled early,” Olson said. “But he’s Mr. Clutch and we knew we had to get the ball in his hands. So we got him the ball and he made a lot of shots.”
Decatur fell behind 69-67 early in overtime, before Tibbs scored Decatur’s next seven points to put the Gators up 74-71. After Smith converted two big free throws with 1:19 left to give Decatur a commanding 76-71 lead, Kentwood went on a 6-2 mini run to cut the lead to 78-77 with 14.9 seconds left in overtime.
But that’s when things got a little weird.
Following the putback by Kentwood’s Devarea Jacobs, which cut the Gator lead to one, Conqueror forward Jeremy Green was whistled for a controversial technical foul for reaching over the baseline while setting up their full-court press. Kentwood had been warned earlier in the game for doing the same thing, necessitating the call.
Tibbs converted both of the technical foul free throws to push the lead to 80-77 with 14.9 seconds remaining. Kentwood missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer and Decatur hit two more free throws to put the game away.
The Gators controlled the first half of play. Decatur built a 30-20 lead after an 8-0 run midway through the second quarter on a 3-pointer from Tibbs. Kentwood fought back to tighten the score at 32-29, but junior point guard Michael Hale hit a leaning layup as the first-half buzzer sounded to give Decatur a 34-29 lead heading into the locker room.
But the Conquerors started the third quarter with a 6-0 run to take a 35-34 lead and extended it to 52-48 entering the fourth. The Conquerors were led by Smith, who dominated inside with 25 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Tyler added 21 points, including three 3-pointers.
Hale was also impressive for the Gators. The 5-7 junior tallied 21 points, including eight in the fourth quarter, five assists and five steals. Senior wing Darious Walker chipped in 16 points and Smith added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Gators.
In other boys basketball action:
• The Todd Beamer Titans outscored the Rogers Rams 37-27 in the second half Tuesday night to pick up their second win of the season. The Titans (2-1 SPSL South, 2-3 overall) got 22 points from Andrew Winton and 15 points, seven assists and four steals from Dakin Wanquist.
• The seventh-ranked Federal Way Eagles rolled over the Kent-Meridian Royals Tuesday night, 77-54. The win improved Federal Way to 2-1 in the SPSL North and 5-1 overall.
Federal Way had nine players score at least four points each and were led by the 15 points of George Williams and Daniel Young. Leading scorer Aaron Broussard tallied 10 points and Ian Tevis had eight.
Kent-Meridian led 14-12 after the first quarter, but the Eagles outscored the Royals, 65-40, in the final three quarters.
• Jefferson fell to 1-2 in the SPSL North with a 62-59 loss to the Tahoma Bears Tuesday night. Spencer Sydney led four Raiders in double figures with 14 points. Xavyr Moss tallied 13, Michael Hunter chipped in 12 and Shermarkie Ibrahim finished with 10 points.
Sports editor Casey Olson: 925-5565, sports@fedwaymirror.com
