Southeast Lauderdale High School’s Christian Walker drives in for a basket against Lake High School Wednesday night at East Central Community College in Decatur.

DECATUR — After a tough 53-51 loss to Choctaw Central High School Tuesday night, the Southeast Lauderdale High School boys were looking to bounce back Wednesday against Forest High School in the East Central Community College tournament.

Though they led Forest 35-17 at the half, the Tigers seniors were apparently unhappy with their play in the first two quarters, prompting them to make a halftime speech to the rest of the players.

Whatever was said, it seemed to have a major effect — the Tigers would shut out Forest defensively for almost the entire second half, with the Bearcats not hitting a field goal until 2:09 remaining in regulation. By that point, Southeast Lauderdale had a 59-17 advantage, and two late baskets by Forest made the final score 59-21.

“We came off a bad loss (Tuesday) night, so anytime you give it your all and lose by two, it’s hard to get yourself up, but we have some great senior leaders who stepped up and made some comments, and they turned it on,” Southeast Lauderdale coach Centel Truman said.

Leading Tigers scorer Malik Wright, who finished with 23 points, scored eight points in the first three minutes of the third quarter, aiding his team in what ended up being a 14-0 run in the frame to jump ahead 49-17 with one quarter remaining.

“It all started on the defensive end,” Truman explained. “He got some steals in the passing lane, so that made for easy baskets, and once you see the ball go in, it makes everything look better.”

Wright, a junior guard, said he fed off of the seniors’ energy during their halftime speech.

“The seniors had gotten onto us about how we were playing in the first half, and we cleaned up everything we were doing in the first half and came out with a spark,” Wright said. “Everyone just bought in. That’s the good part about us. We have great leaders who tell us what to do, and everyone buys in.”

After scoring 14 points in the first half, Wright’s nine-point third quarter was the exclamation point on his night, but Wright said Southeast Lauderdale’s dominance Wednesday wasn’t just about his individual scoring.

“My teammates, they helped me out big,” Wright said. “They try to find me as much as they can, and we try to find each other. It’s not a one-man show; we all play together.”

Southeast Lauderdale led 19-7 after one quarter of play, but the Tigers scored just five points in the first four minutes of the second quarter, allowing Forest to cut the lead to 24-16. However, Southeast Lauderdale held the Bearcats to just one free throw in the final four minutes of the half, going on an 11-1 run to jump ahead 35-17 at the break.

Christian Walker finished with 12 points for Southeast Lauderdale, including two 3s, and Joe Watson added nine points for the Tigers. Dale Morris chipped in with eight points.

The Tigers rose to 2-2 on the season.