The Forrest Lady Rockets travelled to Eagleville on Tuesday night, kicking off the District 9A slate for both squads and in the end, it was Forrest's prowess at the free throw line that made the difference in a tough 54-48 win.

It was an ugly win, but it is better than a pretty loss," said Forrest head coach Jeremy Jean. "Free throws were the key for us tonight."

The Lady Rockets went 21-27 from the charity stripe, including a sizzling 12-14 performance in the fourth quarter.

Sizzling shooting

Savannah Brothers, who led all scorers in the ballgame with 18 points, was a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line in the final period, while Hannah Evans, who scored all nine of her points in the ballgame from the line, nailed six out of eight down the stretch.

It was all Lady Rockets to begin the contest as they jumped out to an 11-2 lead on two Brothers' bombs, four points by Caitlyn Yost, and an Evans free throw.

Eagleville, trailing 11-5 after the first eight minutes would come all the way back in hurry, lashing out to a 7-0 run to begin the second period that was capped off by a long three-pointer by Nicole Duke, giving the Lady Eagles a 12-11 lead.

The home team would maintain the one-point margin at 19-18 late before a Kyleah Hengesbach three-bomb, followed moments later by two Evans charity shots gave FHS a 23-19 halftime lead.

Lead doesn't hold

Forrest would extend their lead to seven points at 28-21 early in the third quarter on a Sierra Waggoner three-point play, via a rebound and put-back.

Eagleville heated up, going on an 8-1 run to eventually tie the game at 29 on another Duke 3-bomb, forcing a Forrest timeout with 3:34 remaining in the third quarter.

Kirston Holder hit one of two from the free throw line to give Forrest the lead at 30-29 before two Yost buckets and baskets by Eagleville's Kristin Barnes and Taylor Turnage made it a 34-33 ballgame in favor of the visitors, entering the final eight minutes.

Brothers drained two treys and hit a pair of free throws to start the fourth quarter, outscoring Eagleville 8-4 to give Forrest a 42-37 lead and then stole the rock and raced in for a lay-up that was no good, but Yost was there for the put-back, giving the Lady Rockets a seven-point that they would need down the stretch.

Eagleville would not go away, coming back again via a 7-1 spurt that sliced the FHS lead to the narrowest of margins at 45-44.

Aiming true

From there, Evans and Brothers came up with ultra-clutch performances from the free line, icing the game as the pair of juniors calmly drained nine out of ten charity shots down the stretch to capture the victory.

Yost finished with 13 points (3-4 FT), Waggoner scored five (1-1 FT), Hengesbach (1-2 FT) and Tamia Northcutt added four points apiece, and Holder hit one free throw in two attempts.

Forrest will be back in district action on Friday night when they host MTCS with tip-off slated for 6 p.m.

"We'll take this win and enjoy it tonight, but we will go back to work tomorrow and get ready for MTCS," said Jean. "It's always hard to play here at Eagleville; they are seven miles down the road and they always want to beat us bad."

Duke had 12 points, while Kristin Barnes was also in double figures with 11 points for the Lady Eagles, who went 10-20 from the free throw line in the contest.