Decatur High School started the fall sports season stronger than ever as a school — ending with two league championships for the first time ever.

Now the Gators turn indoors, with two basketball programs in a new league and two different expectations.

But there was a little bit of a delay with the November “bomb cyclone” windstorm canceling the last day of tryouts for both teams.

On the girls side, success has been more than prevalent than on the boys side. Over the last three seasons, the girls have made the state tournament and had double digit wins three years in a row.

In Head Coach Mo Anderson’s second season, he’s got a little different environment at practice with one familiar face: his daughter Jordan.

“It is definitely unfamiliar. I’ve been coaching her or at least on the sidelines watching her for a while. This year is going to be interesting, but we are going to just keep on going,” Anderson said.

The Gators are retooling this year and already are behind the eight ball with a pair of seniors out with injury to start this season.

“We should be OK. I always downplay our seasons a little bit. But I think we should be OK,” Anderson said.

Jeralynn Sevaaetasi and Leilah Mulivai-Tobin are going to be tasked with the leadership of this team. Anderson is looking for them to take the next step this year.

“It starts with Jeralynn I believe. Then we are going to keep on going and work on building a program,” Anderson said.

The Gator girls will be tested right out of the gate against Bonney Lake, which went undefeated last season in the regular season and turned out being the seventh seed in the state tournament.

“We are going to keep on plugging along. Our assistant coach says, ‘It’s tough to be good.’ So we are still going to put them in those tough situations and learn from there,” Anderson said.

In the 3A NPSL, the team to beat is White River. The Hornets took fourth in state a season ago at 2A, and with the new NPSL, they should be the favorite, with the only real threat Auburn moving up to 4A.

“I am excited being in 3A and have some different opponents. I’ve been telling the girls this is going to be a track meet. So we have to make sure we are in shape and ready to do,” Anderson said.

Anderson does have some familiarity with a new opponent in Enumclaw — their head coach, Danny Graham. “It is going to be kind of fun to go against them,” Anderson said.

Leilah Mulivai-Tobin dribbles the ball up the floor for Decatur in a scrimmage. Ben Ray / The Mirror

On the boys side, success has been hard to come by. Over the last three years, Decatur has won a total of 13 games. Just five of those wins were league games.

Granted, 4A NPSL basketball is a tough league against the likes of Kentwood, Federal Way and Tahoma.

“I think it is very exciting because we get to see some new faces… Now that we get to branch off to the other side, it will be good and gets to open up their eyes,” Head Coach Eaton Wade said.

In 3A, Decatur will have more winnable games on the schedule. Since 2021, of the 13 wins, 3A schools accounted for eight of them.

Decatur’s boys are an experienced side, with 10 seniors on the roster for Coach Wade.

Success has been hard to come by in a Decatur boys basketball uniform. But for Wade, his success is not defined by wins and losses on the court. Rather, it comes from wanting to be part of a program.

“For me, success is being committed… I think I have a group of guys that set the goal to make playoffs, and that is what they are aiming for. They believe it and they can achieve it,” Wade said.

Wade has a couple of former football players, Sam Corbett and Jorge Martinez Lopez, and they are bringing the momentum from a historic football season in hopes of a historic basketball season to follow suit.

“That football toughness comes from there and transfers over. They are bringing that winning mentality over,” Wade said.

Decatur hosts Highline on Dec. 3 to open up the season on the boys side, with tip-off at 7 p.m. The girls host Bonney Lake on Dec. 2 with that game beginning at 7 p.m.