UNIONVILLE — Stratton Lovvorn scored 30 points and became the 19th player in Community Viking basketball history to reach 1,000 points as the Vikings defeated the Forrest Rockets 68-55 in a District 7-AA basketball game Friday night.
It was a big night for the Lovvorn family as brothers Stratton and Landon combined for 44 points to lead the Vikings as the Rockets stayed close thanks to a big night from Hunter Bennett.
"Forrest came in really hot," Coach Robbie Davis of the Vikings said. "They had last week swept Grundy County home and away so they had won two straight district games."
"They have a bunch of kids that can really shoot the basketball," Davis added. "They're a team that scares me to death, to be honest with you."
"They're big, strong kids and they move the ball well," Davis said. "When they get on, they're really tough."
Community (11-14, 3-2) never trailed as the teams battled to gain the upper hand in the opening quarter. Stratton Lovvorn scored nine consecutive Viking points and reached 1,000 points with a trey at the 5:24 mark.
Meanwhile, Bennett netted eight points for Forrest (9-12, 2-3) as the Vikings took a 16-13 lead to the second quarter.
It was Landon's turn to fill the bucket as his seven points paced the Vikings in the quarter.
Led by six points from Davin Porter and four from Andrew Timmons, the Rockets cut the Viking lead to 21-19 with 4:14 left before a 7-0 run put Community up 28-19.
The Vikings took a 32-25 advantage to the intermission.
Bennett regained his form with 10 points and Porter added four as Forrest stayed hot for the first four minutes of the third quarter and trailed the Vikings 44-41 with 3:49 left before failing to score the rest of the quarter.
Stratton Lovvorn was equally hot with 11 points as Community added two late free throws and led 46-41 heading to the final quarter.
It was a shooting display by the Lovvorns in the quarter that helped the Vikings pull away.
Stratton scored 10 points and Landon added seven as the brothers accounted for the first 16 Community points to help the Vikings extend their lead to 62-49 with 2:57 left. Bennett had six points and Porter had four to lead Forrest, but it wasn't enough as the Vikings took the district win.
"It was back and forth for the most part until there at the end when we made a few shots and shot well at the free throw line and did a good job of finishing the game," Davis said.
Bennett finished with 26 points for the Rockets while Porter added 16.
The Vikings were 15-of-19 at the foul line while the Rockets were 3-of-3.
"Landon is a very talented freshman and most of the season early he was hurt," Davis said. "So we've been trying to bring him along really slow."
"It seems like everybody is finally sliding into their roles," Davis added.
The district win for the Vikings was coupled with Stratton Lovvorn reaching his milestone.
"The impressive part about Stratton's 1,000 points is for three seasons he was playing behind three 1,000 point scorers," Davis said. "He started the season a little over 500 points for his career and he has really turned it on."
"In his younger years, he was a shooter," Davis added. "Now, he can go score."
Both teams have non-district games on the road Monday night. Community travels to Central Magnet while Forrest is at Watertown.

Forrest 13 12 16 14 — 55
Community 16 16 14 22 — 68

Forrest: Hunter Bennett 26, Davin Porter 16, Andrew Timmons 6, Deason Jones 4, Brennan Mealer 3, Josh Rumley, Preston Gentry, Ben Villazon, Brayson McCown.
Community: Stratton Lovvorn 30, Landon Lovvorn 14, Maki Fleming 5, Trace Broiles 5, Jason Cullum, Corey Paterick 6, Emery Smith 4, Cole Crockett 2, Jacob Flannagan 2, Ramon Hernandez.
3-Point goals: Forrest (2): Bennett, Mealer; Community (9): S. Lovvorn 4, L. Lovvorn 3, Paterick, Broiles.
Halftime score: Community 32, Forrest 25.