The Marshall County Tigerettes came in to Thursday night’s intra-county rivalry battle at Forrest with second place and a first-round tournament bye secured, but the Lady Rockets needed a win to host a first round game and they got it, coming away with a 45-32 victory.

“We have been in playoff tournament mode since two weeks ago because we got behind the eight-ball and had to win every game we played,” Forrest coach Jeremy Jean said. “Every time you step on the court you want to win.”

Carissa Curtis led all scorers in the contest with 18 points and two 3-pointers.

Jaide Langley was also in double figures with 13 points, including one trey and a perfect 4-for-4 effort from the free throw line.

Dionna Crutcher was the lone Tigerette in double figures with 11 points, two 3-pointers, and a solid 5-for-6 effort from the charity stripe.

MCHS took the early lead as Sydney Tidwell opened the scoring with a layup and Crutcher buried a trey moments later to make it 5-0.

Ally Blanton finally scored for the Lady Rockets with 3:07 remaining in the first quarter and the only other points scored in the period came from Crutcher as the Tigerettes led 7-2 at the end of the stanza.

“We just weren’t aggressive enough,” Jean said. “It was as simple as turning it up a gear and attacking the rim.”

Forrest came up with an 8-0 run to start the second quarter, capped off by a Laura Mealer bucket to make it 10-7.

Kelsey Keiler broke the Forrest run with a bucket before Curtis nailed a 3-pointer to make it 13-9, only to see the Tigerettes tie the game at 13-13 on an Israel Hurt basket and two free throws by Crutcher at the end of the first half.

Mealer and Hannah Davis traded three-point plays in the paint around a Davis free throw early in the second half as MCHS held a slim 17-16 lead.

Forrest came back to take the lead by just one point at 20-19 before they got red hot, putting together a huge 14-2 run led by Curtis, who drained two 3-pointers and had eight points as Forrest led 34-21 with 56.1 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

“The third quarter was our pace, it was up and down and I like that and the kids are comfortable doing that,” Jean said. “Scoring 45 points against them is like scoring 70, they are really good in the half court defensively.”

Forrest took a 35-24 lead to the final period and the Tigerettes cut the margin to 10 points before the Lady Rockets put the game away with a 5-0 mini-run that was capped off by an Ally Blanton basket that stretched the Chapel Hill lead to 15 points with just over two minutes to play in the contest.

MCHS 7 6 11 8-32

Forrest 2 11 22 10-45

Marshall County (32): Dionna Crutcher 11, Hannah Davis 9, Kelsey Keiler 4, Sydney Tidwell 4, Karlye Wiser 4.

Three-Point Goals (3): Crutcher 2, Wiser.

Free Throws (9-for-13): Crutcher 5-for-6, Davis 3-for-5, Wiser 1-for-2.

Forrest (45): Carissa Curtis 18, Jaide Langley 13, Laura Mealer 8, Ally Blanton 4, Megan Mealer 2.

Three-Point Goals (3): Curtis 2, Langley.

Free Throws (8-for-14): Curtis 2-for-6, Langley 4-for-4, Laura Mealer 2-for-2, Ryann Lewis 0-for-2.

Halftime Score: Forrest 13, Marshall County 13.

Final District 12-AA Standings

Nolensville (21-4, 10-0)

Marshall County (16-7, 6-4)

Forrest (20-8, 5-5)

Giles County (12-13, 4-6)

Community (12-17, 4-6)

Central Magnet (9-14, 1-9)