Viking guard Cody Pierce battles Rocket Kendall Knight (12) for a rebound. (T-G Photo by Jimmy Jones) [Click to enlarge]

CHAPEL HILL -- Community came into the game against Forrest desperately needing a win that would leave them in a possible three-way tie for third place in District 9-A and a shot at an opening round tournament home game for the first time in several seasons.

The Vikings (11-10, 5-7 9-A) were riding high off their big home win over Cascade and were still fighting mad over their admittedly poor performance in a double-digit loss against the Rockets in Unionville last week.

Forrest (10-15, 6-5) matched the Vikes' strong effort to win 49-42 behind 18 points by Preston Pratt, all on 3-pointers, to drop the visitors from a potential third place finish to fifth in the standings.

It also ensures that two Bedford County neighbors could be forced to face one another in an elimination game in the district tournament on Feb. 12. By virtue of higher-seeded head-to-head records, Cascade wins the tiebreaker and the No. 4 seed, sending Community on the road as the No. 5 seed.

The two teams lit up the scoreboard in the first period as Justin Stallings worked hard in the post to net six points and Dustin White, newly installed as starter at the point, hit a 3-pointer to jumpstart the Vikings to a 15-point output that was offset by three 3-pointers from Pratt, one of which gave his team the lead 17-15 as the buzzer sounded.

Pratt, who did not score in the previous meeting between the two squads, added another trey in the second quarter. This time, White turned the tables on the Rockets as he drained one from behind the arc as the horn sounded to give the Vikings a 27-25 advantage at intermission.

"We played with much better intensity in this game compared to the last one," Viking coach Jace Bryant said. "No coach likes to coax effort out of his players, and I didn't have to do that in this game except a couple of plays where we had guys standing around that needed a little encouragement.

"Overall though, I was pretty pleased with the way we hit the floor for loose balls, and we handled the press much better as a team."

The third quarter found the Rockets owners of a 34-31 lead on the strength of the continued hot shooting of Pratt, who notched two more 3-pointers.

The fourth quarter featured three ties and three lead changes before the Vikings turned the ball over on successive trips to allow the Rockets consecutive conversions and a lead that they would not relinquish.

Forrest hit 9-of-10 free throws down the stretch after hitting but 1-of-6 in the previous three periods.

"I will never accept losing," Bryant said. "But this game has left us with a decidedly better taste than the first game we played them. There are guys in that locker room that took this loss hard and that is a good trait."

Pratt led all scorers with his 18 while fellow Rocket Kendall Knight pitched in with 12.

Stallings totaled 14 for the Vikings with White connecting for 12.

Community hit 4-of-6 free throws.

The Vikes get another look at what the other half of Region 5-A looks like when they take on White House-Heritage on Thursday at 8 in their regular season finale. The Patriots took the first matchup 51-49 back on Nov. 27.