The Forrest Lady Rockets came in to Friday’s senior night tilt versus Giles County needing a win and a Community loss versus Murfreesboro Central Magnet School to clinch second place in the District 12-AA standings and earn a first round bye in this week’s district tournament.

Neither happened as Giles County came back to upset the Lady Rockets 51-49 and the Viqueens beat the Lady Tigers 50-47 at Unionville.

“We just had a little bit of a lapse on the defensive side of the ball in the third and fourth quarters which we have not experienced too many times this year in the district,” Forrest coach Corey Bishop said. “We need to understand that playing defense for an entire 32 minutes will lead to more success within the postseason.”

Forrest (8-12, 5-5) finished in third place and was supposed to host sixth place Marshall County (5-14, 3-7) tonight before the winter storm hit overnight and both of the first-round games were postponed until tomorrow, weather permitting.

Community (11-10, 6-4) finished in second place and Nolensville (15-6, 8-2) won the regular season district title for the third season in a row.

Giles County (6-11, 4-6) and Murfreesboro Central Magnet School (10-8, 4-6) square off in the fourth/fifth place game in Murfreesboro.

Before the start of the game, senior Carissa Curtis, who had been out the entire season with a knee, received a special honor when she dressed and ran out before the tip.

“We think it was just a great moment for Carissa personally as she got to be on the court one last time, and a great moment for her and her teammates to share such a memorable moment,” Bishop said. “She has done a great job of being a fantastic leader and teammate this year and we can't wait for her to continue her basketball career at Freed-Hardeman next season.”

Macyn Kirby banged home a 3-pointer to start the game on Friday at Chapel Hill as the Lady Rockets started with an 11-4 run that also included long bombs by Laura Mealer and Addison Bunty.

The Lady Bobcats came up with back-to-back buckets by Teondra Williams and Ari Howard before Forrest eighth-grader Kinslee Inlow banged home a pair of treys and Forrest led 17-13 at the end of the first period.

Giles County tied the game from the free throw line early in the second quarter before Forrest went on a 9-2 run, capped off by another Kirby 3-pointer to lead 26-17 until a late Lady Bobcats’ bucket by Kataiah Dudley made it 26-21 at the half.

Mealer scored to begin the second half and then the Lady Bobcats made their move, outscoring the Lady Rockets 13-4 over the next several minutes to eventually take a 33-32 lead on a Hannah Hill basket with three minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Alex Davenport broke the Giles County run with a 3-pointer to put Forrest back in front, but the Lady Bobcats scored two field goals and the Lady Rockets had one as the third quarter ended in a 37-37 tie.

Forrest fell behind as Giles County opened up the fourth period with a 7-0 run, taking a 44-37 lead.

Kirby rained home a 3-pointer and Bunty followed with a steal and score to make it a two-point game.

The Lady Bobcats held a 49-44 lead with two and half minutes to go in the contest when the Lady Rockets came back to tie it up at 49 on a Kirby trey and a Mealer drive to the hoop with 1:20 remaining in the game.

Forrest got the ball back on a steal, but turned it over and Howard made one free throw to give Giles County a 50-49 lead with less than a minute to go.

The Lady Rockets missed two attempts to take the lead and Williams made it 51-49 and Forrest called timeout with 17.9 seconds left in the game.

As time ran down, the ball went to the far corner and a 3-point attempt by the Lady Rockets was no good and the Lady Bobcats finished off the regular season sweep over Forrest to avenge a nine-game losing streak, dating back to 2015 that included back-to-back-to-back district season sweeps by Chapel Hill.

“We want to be playing our best basketball at the end of the season, so it would have been nice to finish the regular season with a win,” Bishop said. “I'm interested in seeing how we respond going forward in the district tournament, because that is a whole new season.”

Giles County 13 8 16 14-51

Forrest 17 9 11 12-49

Giles County (51): Ari Howard 19, Teondra Williams 11, Hannah Hill 11, Maddie White 6, Elizabeth Cox 2, Kataiah Dudley 2.

Three-Point Goals (2): Howard 2.

Free Throws (9-for-15): Howard 3-for-5, Williams 3-for-4, Cox 2-for-2, Hill 1-for-4.

Forrest (49): Laura Mealer 12, Macyn Kirby 11, Addison Bunty 7, Ryann Lewis 6, Kinslee Inlow 6, Alex Davenport 5, Megan Mealer 2.

Three-Point Goals (8): Kirby 3, Inlow 2, Davenport, Laura Mealer, Bunty.

Free Throws (3-for-4): Kirby 2-for-2, Laura Mealer 1-for-2.

Halftime Score: Forrest 26, Giles County 21.