Kemper County’s TraKaleb Welch goes up for a shot against Southeast Lauderdale’s Bryon Harbin Friday night.

Joe Watson didn’t get off to the start he would have ideally liked, but he was sure he’d get the ending he and his teammates wanted. 

Watson scored nine points in the fourth quarter and seven points in overtime to carry Southeast Lauderdale to a 59-56 overtime win over visiting Kemper County Friday night. 

“I just played defense first, and I let my defense create my offense,” Watson said. “I knew I was struggling, so I just stepped up on defense, and I knew my offense would come.”

Watson scored just two points in the first 24 minutes via free throws as Kemper County held a 37-28 lead at the end of the third quarter, but he found his game in the last eight minutes.

Trailing 37-32 with 6:57 left in regulation, Watson rattled off three consecutive field goals to keep the Tigers alive, and after two free throws and a jumper by Christian Walker, Southeast Lauderdale whittled Kemper County’s lead to 44-42 with 2:33 left in the fourth quarter.

Kemper County’s Quanderious Bohannon made two free throws with 2:04 left to play to push the Wildcats’ lead to 46-42, and Trakaleb Welch went 1 of 2 from the free-throw line with 1:22 remaining in the fourth quarter to extend Kemper County’s lead to 47-42.

Southeast Lauderdale’s Travis Moore banged down low to make a basket with 1:07 left to play, which made the score 47-44 in Kemper County’s favor.

With 32 seconds remaining in regulation, Watson uncorked a shot from beyond the arc and watched as it rolled down the net to tie the score at 47.

“No. 1, as hard as he works, he deserves these opportunities,” Southeast Lauderdale coach Centel Truman said of Watson. “On Saturday and Sunday nights when kids are out partying, he’s in the gym putting in extra work. So because of the extra work, it’s paying off.”

Watson finished with a game-high 18 points and scored seven of Southeast Lauderdale’s 12 points in overtime. Walker finished with 13 points.

“I just didn’t want to lose,” said Watson, who scored the game-winning basket with 1.8 seconds left in regulation against Forest on Tuesday. “This is my senior year, and I don’t want to go out without being 10-0 in district. I think we stepped up big time — we played sloppy in the beginning.”

Timothy McElroy led Kemper County with 15 points, James Granger Jr. added 13 points and Welch finished with 11 points. Friday’s overtime contest was Kemper County’s second consecutive, and its third overtime game this season.

“We’re young, and we’re playing a lot of inexperienced players,” Kemper County coach Daryl Osby said. “We’re just trying to work and keep grinding and get better. We’re starting to improve every day in practice… So now we’re starting to execute a lot better at the end of games, but I think we got a little bit tired because we’re missing a couple of our kids with injuries and the flu.”

In their two games this season, Southeast Lauderdale has defeated Kemper County by nine points. The Wildcats and Tigers will meet again in Kemper County on Jan. 30 for the series finale.

“The program Kemper County has — the historic tradition of basketball over there, is just winning, period,” Truman said. “They have a great coach in Coach Osby, and in his first year, he has the guys playing extremely well and extremely hard. I take my hat off to my young men. They stepped up and answered the challenge after halftime. They know I’ve been sick, and they found a way take up the load, and I’m proud of them for that.”

Truman also had a message for the contingent of Southeast Lauderdale who packed the gym Friday night. 

“I also want to thank our fans,” he said. “They were into it and they helped inspire our young people. I’m so very proud of our fans and our community, and I want to tell them thank you.”

Up next: Southeast Lauderdale (6-6, 2-0) plays Clinton Saturday at East Central Community College’s Martin Luther King Jr. Classic, while Kemper County  (3-17, 0-2) hosts Choctaw Central on Jan. 16.

SOUTHEAST LAUDERDALE GIRLS 47, 

KEMPER COUNTY 14 

Kenyata Walker scored a game-high 14 points, Shakira Wilson added seven points, and the Lady Tigers earned a 47-14 victory over Kemper County Friday night. 

Talia Brown paced the Lady Wildcats with seven points.