By Chris Brennaman / Assistant Sports Editor
When Quitman threatened to re-take the lead late in the first half of their basketball matchup at Southeast Lauderdale Thursday night, the host Lady Tigers put out the fire in a big way.
The Lady Panthers, who hadn't led since the 3:28 mark in the first quarter, tied the game on a 3-pointer by ReRe McFarland and were looking for the lead when Brittany Roberts stole the ball and went coast-to-coast for a layup.
From that point, the Lady Tigers (4-0) went on a 20-0 run which proved to be the difference in the 74-54 game.
The first six of those points came before the teams went to the locker rooms. After Roberts put SEL up 28-26, April Durden's putback extended the lead to four.
Once Quitman crossed midcourt with 1:11 on the clock, the Lady Panthers held the ball for the final shot. With 10 seconds remaining, Roberts lunged for the ball, stealing it and going unchallenged for the lay-in.
The steal was the 17th turnover by QHS in the first half, which was marred by mistakes on both sides of the court. The two squads combined for 28 turnovers and 18 fouls — 15 of which came in the first quarter alone.
Pashen Thompson recorded her third foul just 3:55 into the game, forcing her to the bench for the remainder of the half with no points.
"We made too many mistakes in the first half," said SEL coach Joe Miller. "We made a lot of moves that weren't too smart. There were just a lot of mental mistakes. I was pretty frustrated."
What happened behind the closed door of the Southeast Lauderdale locker room at halftime is known by only a few people, but everyone in the gym knew it worked.
The Lady Tigers, scored the first 14 points of the second half and kept Quitman off the board until the 4:01 mark.
"The way you start the third quarter usually dictates how the game will finish," Miller said. "We were a much different team in the second half."
When Thompson took a stolen ball the length of the court to put Southeast up by 12, the Lady Panthers called a timeout to try to stop the bleeding. Another 2:14 of game clock ticked away before they finally scored on a 3-pointer by A'Teyuna Doby, who finished with eight points.
Thompson and Durden each finished with a double-double, putting up 16 points apiece. Thompson had 14 boards, while Durden had 10.
Roberts led all scorers with 29 points, including 11 in the second quarter after getting off to a slow start.
Quitman was led by Dajah McCarty and Elyssa McKenzie, who had 12 and 10 points, respectively.
With a relatively young team, Miller was knows that wins like this one will help his girls down the road.
"We're not totally young, but we have a lot of inexperience in the lineup," he said. "Every win is good."
Quitman boys 53
Southeast Lauderdale 47
Despite dressing only six players, Steve Hampton's Panthers picked up the win to earn the split for Quitman.
Kegan Houston scored a game-high 26 for the Panthers, who are still missing several players that are on the 10-1 Panther football team.
Marcus Heidelberg chipped in nine for QHS.
Ed Ruffin led the Tigers with 19 points, while both James White and Harold Clark had 10.
The Panthers scored 19 of their points at the charity stripe. They hit 70 percent of their free throws, including 10-of-11 in the fourth quarter. Southeast shot 22 percent from the line.
Both Southeast teams will be back in action Tuesday when they travel to cross-county rival Northeast Lauderdale.
The Panthers face No. 4 Meridian in the Quitman Classic Saturday. The Lady Panthers also play Meridian in the QHS Classic.
