By RICKEY CLARDY - Sports Writer
UNIONVILLE — A Forrest Rocket lead evaporated after a Community Viking comeback in the fourth quarter, but the Rockets made the shots down the stretch and held off the Vikings for a 50-47 win in a District 7-AA basketball game Friday night.
Community used the hot hand of Cole Crockett to take the lead in the first quarter. Crockett scored 11 points as the Vikings took a 13-8 lead before the Rockets scored the final five points to tie the game at 13-13 heading to the second quarter.
Forrest used two treys from Bray McCown to gain the halftime lead.
The game was tied three times before the last trey by McCown broke the tie and gave the Rockets a 23-20 lead before Forrest settled for a 23-22 advantage at the break.
“We’ve been kind of cold shooting the rock from the outside, and I think our guys got it going and I hope it spurs some confidence in them,” Coach Shane Chapman of the Rockets said.
With Ryan Meglis scoring six points, the Rockets led the entire third quarter and took their biggest lead at 38-30 with 1:04 left.
Jason Cullum led the Vikings with six points as Forrest took a 40-33 lead to the fourth quarter.
Landon Lovvorn got hot with 10 points as the Vikings fought back.
Two Lovvorn treys tied the game twice, followed by a two-point field goal by Lovvorn at the 2:08 mark that tied the game at 46-46.
The Vikings could never take the lead as the Rockets broke out of the tie.
Jimmy Bond led Forrest with five points, including a field goal with 1:49 remaining that gave the Rockets the lead for good at 48-46.
After a Crockett free throw put the Vikings within one at 48-47 with 1:34 to go, Davin Porter connected on two free throws four seconds later to put the Rockets up 50-47.
A Forrest free throw miss late gave Community a chance for the tie, but two three-point attempts could not find the mark as the Rockets escaped with the win.
“It was ugly, but I’ll take it,” Chapman said.
“Forrest did a great job tonight on both ends of the floor and they played with a ton of intensity and fight,” Coach Robbie Davis of the Vikings said.
“They deserve all the credit for coming out and going after the win.”
McCown led with three Rockets in double figures with 13 points.
Bond and Meglis each had 10 points.
Crockett led all scorers with 17 points for the Vikings while Lovvorn added 11.
The Rockets were 4-of-10 at the foul line while the Vikings were 4-of-6.
“The guys fought hard and we just tried to take it one possession at a time,” Chapman said.
“We’d have a breakdown, and we’d have to really focus and lockdown on what we worked on getting ready for Community,” Chapman said.
“The game got to a point where a shot or two would have given us a lead but that’s not where the game for us is being lost,” Davis said.
“It’s right from the beginning of the game, we continue to miss shots at point blank range throughout the game,” Davis added.
Forrest travels to Cascade for a District 7-AA game Tuesday night while Community hosts Cornersville in a non-district tilt. Both games begin at 7:30 p.m.
“At this point of the season, the teams that play deep into the postseason are playing their best basketball in late January and early February,” Davis said.
“Unfortunately for us, we are not heading in that direction with almost the first time through the district complete,” Davis added.
“We will go back to the drawing board and prepare for Cornersville on Tuesday.”
Forrest 13 10 17 10 — 50
Community 13 9 11 14 — 47
Forrest: Bray McCown 13, Jimmy Bond 10, Ryan Meglis 10, Davin Porter 9, Mason Harper 6, Ben Villazon 2, Josh Rumley, Will Bennett.
Community: Cole Crockett 17, Landon Lovvorn 11, Jason Cullum 8, Jacob Flannagan 5, Corey Paterick, Austin Stickler 4, Moe Berman 2, Emery Smith, Noah Watson, Landon Berman, Dallas Grooms.
3-Point goals: Forrest (6): McCown 4, Bond, Porter; Community (3): Lovvorn 2, Crockett.
Halftime score: Forrest 23, Community 22.
