The Forrest Lady Rockets countered a first quarter punch by Moore County with two solid body blows in the second and third periods to win going away 59-40 in Lynchburg Friday night.

With their fifth win in a row, Forrest (9-3, 2-0) remained tied atop the District 9-A standings with Community (10-1, 4-0) and MTCS (8-2, 2-0).

"It is a good way to start the season in district play, but it was not a good way to start the game tonight," said FHS head Coach Jeremy Jean. "We came out flat tonight and I was afraid of that after the Summertown game, but we stayed in the game, woke up in the second quarter and never looked back and that is a positive sign."

Extremely young

Moore County (7-5, 1-2) started five eighth-graders in the contest and the Raiderette youngsters came out inspired, winning the first quarter 13-11.

"We always want to be the one to throw the first punch, but they gave us a couple of combos and got us on our heels," said Jean. "It took a while before we got some big stops on defense and it got us some momentum on offense that woke us up."

Forrest's Savannah Brothers and Kirsten Hawkins traded buckets to begin quarter number two before Hannah Evans scored in the post for FHS and moments later, Lady Rocket freshman Caitlyn Yost converted a three-point play in the paint, giving Forrest a lead they would never surrender.

Moore County turned the ball over and Brothers hit one of two from the free throw line to make it a 19-15 ballgame.

Yost scored again to stretch the Forrest lead to 21-15 before Hawkins kissed a left-handed layup off the glass.

Intensity

From there, the Lady Rockets picked up the defensive intensity that led to a 5-0 run, capped off by Kyleah Hengesbach steal and dish to Brothers, who was fouled on a drive to the hoop.

Brothers nailed one of two free throws, making it 26-17 before Hawkins got one point back on a charity toss.

A Yost pull-up jumper in the lane ended the first half scoring with the Lady Rockets leading by ten points at 28-18.

Kirston Holder drilled a three-pointer to start the second half and Yost followed with another basket, stretching the FHS lead to 33-18.

Katie Thomas scored for Moore County before the Lady Rockets served up the knockout blow via a 12-0 run that featured three-bombs by Brothers and Evans that gave the visitors a commanding 45-20 lead midway through the stanza.

Running ahead

Hawkins scored to break the Forrest run, but it was just temporary as Brothers scored four straight and Hengesbach hit one free throw, extending the FHS lead to 28 points before Mikayla Ray ended the third quarter with a three-pointer for Moore County.

Forrest would go up by 27-points on a Hengesbach rebound and put-back to begin the final period before Jean called off the dogs and began to sub.

Moore County did not cooperate with Jean's kindness and continued a full-court press, cutting the Lady Rockets' lead to 18 points.

Not forgetting what the Raiderettes did last season in running up the score to win by 40 over Forrest in Lynchburg, Jean put his starters back in the game and Evans nailed a three-bomb, followed by a Yost basket to increase the lead back 57-34.

Statement made

At that point, Jean sent all his starters back to the bench and the game ended with the Forrest winning by 19-points and the bad blood between the two coaches remained intact.

"We tried to take the foot off the gas, but they kept on pressing, so we put our starters back in the game," said Jean. "I think they forgot what they did to us last year, pressing the whole game in a 40-point blowout, so they can say whatever they want."

The two squads will meet again in Chapel Hill on Jan. 21.

Yost poured in 21 points to lead all scorers in the contest, while Brothers netted 16 points, Evans tallied nine, Hengesbach added five, Sierra Waggoner scored four, Holder had the one trey, and Krista Chapman hit one free throw for the Lady Rockets.

Hawkins led Moore County in scoring with 15 points.