Forrest bombs Lady Champs' title bid

CHAPEL HILL -- For the first 10 minutes of action Thursday night, it appeared as though those in attendance to see top-seeded Forrest host fourth-seeded Cascade in a District 9-A tournament semifinal were in for quite a treat.

Tiffani Grogan netted back-to-back baskets for the Lady Champions to even the game at 11 early into the second quarter.

Any hopes of an upset were smashed into smithereens shortly thereafter.

Cascade came out in its zone defense just as it had last time the two met when it took Forrest to overtime. This time, however, Lady Rocket guards took full advantage of wide-open looks at the basket. The result was a barrage of 3-point bombs that helped No. 3-ranked Forrest explode for a scoring run that helped carry it to a 60-42 win.

Four different Chapel Hill ladies accounted for five 3s in an eye-popping shooting display that resulted in 17 unanswered points over a 4-minute, 51-second stretch.

"When we play a team like them we've got to do a better job of putting pressure on the ball," Cascade coach Chad Spencer said. "We were getting beat off the dribble, which was drawing a lot of help, and then they kicked it inside-out and were shooting 3s on us. A lot of that is I've got a 14-15 year-old girl trying to guard an 18-year-old girl and keep her in front of you and that's a big task."

When Spencer switched to a man-to-man defense and defenders did slide out to close the bomb bay doors on Forrest shooters, Lady Rocket senior post Beth Hawn took full advantage of the open space to work with in and around the paint, gathering 15 of her game-high 23 points in the middle two quarters.

Cascade (17-9) was only outscored by a point in the second half but the damage was done.

Forrest (24-4) takes a 13-game winning streak into Monday night's 9-A final against Moore County at 7:30. The Lady Rockets are in search of their fifth straight district title.

"They're the team to beat right now in our region," Spencer said. "Playing them is not going to do anything but make us better."

Cascade's chance to circle the wagons and gather up another victory before leaving Chapel Hill comes in Monday night's consolation game versus Middle Tennessee Christian. Tip-off is a 6.

The loss means the Bell Buckle/Wartrace gals must hit the road to face one of the top two seeds from District 10-A in the opening round of the Region 5-A tournament on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.

"I fully believe we're better than anybody in that top four (of District 10), whether we've got all these underclassmen or not," Spencer said. "I just feel like our schedule that we've played will give us that kind of experience. But, having that home-court advantage in that first satellite game of the region is big. Everybody wants to play in front of their own crowd."

The Lady Champs never got any closer than 15 in the second half.

A 3-pointer by Haley Edmondson to close out the third period and a bucket by Alyssa Hoover to open up the fourth got them to within 47-30, but it was downhill from there as every made basket was countered only seconds later by more Forrest points.

"I thought we did a halfway decent job on offense when we were attacking the basket," Spencer said. "We didn't knock down as many shots from the perimeter as we have the last few games."

Christina Curtner dropped in four of the Lady Rockets' eight treys and totaled 16 points. Twin sister Anna Curtner hit two 3s herself and had 10 points.

M.K. Potts paced Cascade with 12 points. Edmondson and Grogan split 20 points evenly.

"I thank all the people who came out and supported us tonight. If they come back Monday, maybe we'll do a better job," Spencer said.

Moore County 57, Middle Tennessee Christian 43: In the other semifinal, Allata Taylor tallied 19 points, including 8-of-10 makes at the foul line, to lead the Raiderettes. Rachel Garland and Heather Vann chipped in 13 points apiece.

The Lady Cougars will be absent from the district championship for the first time since the 2005-06 season. They got 17 points from Kate Mullins and 12 from Alex Martin.

Moore County (22-6) was up 15-7 at the end of the first quarter, 28-16 midway through and 40-25 after three quarters.