Rockets explode midway through 9-A final

CHAPEL HILL -- What initially looked like a battle for the ages turned into a one-sided affair as Forrest broke away from Cascade in the middle stages to win the District 9-A tournament championship 52-32 on Tuesday night.

The fourth-seeded Rockets (12-17) rallied from a slight deficit in the second quarter on the strength of solid defense and clutch shooting to win their first title since the 2003-04 season.

"This year, with our injuries, we didn't peak early," said Forrest coach Davy McClaran, who lost returning top scorer Ferris Perkins before the season started with a knee injury. "We didn't have the guys out on the floor to peak early. That's really been a blessing in disguise that we didn't gel too early this year."

It was the fourth time in seven years the two locked up in the district final.

"They're a good team, and they play extremely well at home," Cascade coach Charlie Pope said. "They've been shooting the ball really well probably the last three weeks, just shooting it great. We knew that coming in."

After the tournament hosts scored the first two baskets of the game, the second-seeded Champions (16-11) answered with the next nine points and held a slim 11-9 advantage heading to the second quarter.

"We're a team that has to live as mistake free as we can," Pope said. "Tonight, I felt like, early on we were playing well and got away with a few mistakes (because) we were making some shots. When we started missing shots then mistakes got magnified.

"It's frustrating, it's disappointing, but you live to fight another day."

Gerald "Happy" Johnson scored to put the Orange and Black ahead 13-11 shortly into the second stanza, however, it would be their final lead of the ballgame.

Cascade clanked on a number of point-blank shot attempts. Meanwhile, the deeper the Rockets were at launch point, the more efficient they were.

Tournament most valuable player Kyle Gugger drained a 3-pointer from the side that not only got Forrest in front 14-13, but it fueled the home crowd and jumpstarted a 19-5 run that ventured into the third quarter.

"I think both teams played real tight and it was going to come down to who could keep their focus and hit some of those early shots," McClaran said. "I felt like we loosened up before they got to."

Neither team scored the final 2:41 of the first half, which allowed the Rockets a 21-16 upper hand at the break.

Taylor Gentry was fouled while laying in a basket. He converted the 3-point play at the foul line to cap off the Forrest scoring spurt that left them on top 30-18 with 4:02 showing in the third.

"We just couldn't make shots, and we fell into a trap of letting our offense dictate our defense," Pope said. "A lot of teams do that. It's a natural tendency because you think about what you're doing wrong offensively to correct things and you're not defending the way you're supposed to be or don't close out hard enough."

Field goals by Ryan Massey and Matt Henderson helped shrink Cascade's deficit to 11 just as the fourth quarter got underway. With the exception of Gugger inadvertently tipping in a basket into his own goal while trying to secure a rebound, the Champs went without a point for 4:22, which allowed the game to get out of hand.

Forrest's Corey Bishop knocked down three 3s en route to 13 points. Fellow junior Gugger tallied 13 points. Freshman Mark Pope was 4-for-5 at the charity stripe en route to 13 points as well.

Johnson's nine points were the most for Cascade.

The Champs were a woeful 4-for-15 at the free-throw line and managed just one trey. In sharp contrast, the Rockets hit 9-of-14 free throws and seven 3s.

Forrest enters the Region 5-A tournament as a No. 1 seed and hosts District 10-A's fourth-place team White House-Heritage. Cascade puts its season on the line versus East Robertson in Wartrace.

All boys first-round region games are Saturday night at 7.