The Quitman boys basketball led by as much as 30 points in the early stages of the third quarter, but had to hold off a second-half push by host Southeast to secure this year’s Sam Dale Tournament championship Saturday with a 73-54 victory. Aided by 15 first-half points from Chris Keys, a day after scoring 47 against Kemper County, the Panthers took a 21-11 lead after the first quarter before going on a 19-0 run in the second that was capped off with a dunk by Keys to lead 42-13. Kesean Johnson hit a jumper at the buzzer before the half to give his team a 29-point lead over the Tigers at the break. After Justin Vaughn completed a 3-point play to give Quitman its largest lead of the contest, Southeast strung together 19 straight points from five different players, including a 3-pointer by Roman Hudnall to cut its deficit to 15 with three minutes left in the third period. “They made us take some shots that we were uncomfortable with taking. My halftime speech was, they have to speed us up, so let’s play under control and let’s play slow. Let them run more, and let us play at a pace. They sped us up, and we played like them, and that worked in their favor.” A steal and wide open slam by Keys contributed to six points in a row for the Panthers to stretch their advantage back out to 21 before leading 59-21 heading into the fourth quarter.