It was one of the best rivalries in high school basketball. But the rivalry has been on hold for the last few years.

The Decatur and Federal Way boys basketball teams haven’t played since the 2008-09 season. Since that time, the two schools have been shuffled around the South Puget Sound League divisions before Decatur was reclassified to a Class 3A school before the 2010-11 season.

But that will change next winter when the Gators and Eagles will meet inside Kent’s ShoWare Center at 6 p.m. on Jan. 21 as part of the 2013 King Showcase. The two schools always seem to be among the area’s elite, and there always seems to be something big on the line when they play each other.

According to Decatur Head Coach Kevin Olson, the game came about after Federal Way was forced to pull out of a holiday tournament in Arizona and needed some non-league games.

The director of the 2013 King Showcase, Federal Way resident Steve Turcotte, was able to convince longtime Eagle coach Jerome Collins and Olson to play each other after three seasons apart.

“We were already in the event,” Olson said. “(The Arizona trip) fell through, so they needed some non-league games.”

The last time the two teams played came in the 2009 SPSL Championship game with Federal Way winning in double overtime, 69-63. It was also the start of the postseason run by the Eagles, which ended with the program’s first and only state championship. Federal Way entered the game as the top-ranked team in the state and Decatur was ranked second. The Eagles also beat the Gators earlier in the season at the University of Washington in another one-two matchup.

Despite playing in six consecutive state tournaments, the Gators’ last win over Federal Way came in 2008. That was the season that saw Federal Way and Decatur play a grand total of four times.

The two teams split the meetings, 2-2, but Federal Way got the last laugh when they beat the Gators in the Class 4A state semifinals inside the Tacoma Dome. The win led the Eagles into their first of two-straight state championship game appearances.

If things play out, the Eagles basically return their entire team from a season ago. Federal Way advanced into the regional round of the Class 4A State Tournament, where they lost to Jackson, 50-45.

First-team, All-SPSL selections Brayon Blake and DeeShawn Tucker are set to be one of the most dominant point guard-forward combinations in the state. Blake averaged 15.9 points a game and Tucker chipped in 11.3. Also back are Deonte Anderson (9.8 points a game), D’Londo Tucker (9.5) and Malik Montoya (6.4).

Decatur is in a different boat, entirely. The Gators basically lost their entire team, including all-state guard Dom Hunter (21.0 a game). Also gone will be Markus Rawls (13.8) and Jeff Bartley (6.1).

But Olson also suffered an unexpected loss following the school year when he learned senior-to-be Abraham Ferrell-Logan was moving to Virginia. Ferrell-Logan averaged 12.0 points a game and was a second-team, All-SPSL 3A selection.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to fill that loss as we were anticipating him taking over the leading scoring role for us,” Olson said.