Middle Vikes turn up pressure on Rockets

Viking forward Austin Carpenter, left, soars for two points over Forrest defender Blake Leonard. (T-G Photo by Jimmy Jones) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Taylor Paschal and Blake Fanning split 20 points between them and Community Middle utilized a high-energy pressure defense from baseline to baseline to defeat Forrest Middle 42-27 in Unionville on Monday night.

The Purple and Gold (2-3) opened a 6-5 advantage after a quarter and bumped the lead to 13-9 at the half.

Community put the pedal to the metal with 18 points in a frantically played third period with eight players thinning the nets to open a 31-16 advantage.

In the fourth period, the Viking defense continued to be outstanding as they harassed the Rocket ballhandlers into mistake after mistake to win the game going away.

Caleb Keller was the offensive catalyst for the visitors with a game-high 13 points, including three 3-pointers.

Forrest 37, Community 34 (G): The Viqueens led throughout most of the game but turnovers and poor free-throw shooting down the stretch proved to be more than they could overcome against the Lady Rockets.

Community (2-3) opened the game with an 8-5 lead after the first quarter and was up 15-11 at intermission behind the hot shooting of Jamie and Blair Demonbreum, who combined for nine points in the early going.

"We played pretty good ball in the first half," Community coach Kevin Hinson said. "We hit some shots and the kids played good defense.

Jamie Demonbreum pulls down a tough rebound in traffic for Community. (T-G Photo by Jimmy Jones) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

"Unfortunately, we had some injuries to some key players and we weren't able to maintain any consistency in the second half of the game."

Leg injuries to Blair Demonbreum and point guard Tayhlor Stephenson derailed the Purple and Gold's momentum in the third frame and the Lady Rockets seized the opportunity as Savannah Brothers used her size advantage to score over, around and through the home team to the tune of seven points to help her team to tie the score at 24-all leading to the fourth.

The two teams exchanged the lead on three occasions in the final period but the Lady Rockets hit 5-of-10 free throws down the stretch and Kaitlin Toombs had two clutch baskets in the closing minutes to ensure the victory. Brothers hit 4-of-7 from the line during that time frame.

The Viqueens finished a paltry 6-of-17 from the charity stripe, including just 3-of-9 in the fourth period.

Brothers earned game-high honors with 14 points.

Blair Demonbreum netted 12 and sister Jamie contributed nine to the Viqueen effort.

"We had our opportunities," Hinson said. "We missed way too many easy shots and we got beat soundly on the offensive boards, especially in the fourth quarter. Overall though, I am pretty proud of the effort we gave tonight. We just came up a little short."

Community welcomes Liberty on Thursday at 6.