The Forrest Lady Rockets continued their early season hot streak as they travelled to Cascade Tuesday night and came up with an easy 49-23 win for their fourth win in a row and six out of seven to start the season.
“It was a sloppy game and we talked about that at halftime and the girls knew it, but we defended well enough for the 49 points to be the winning score,” Forrest coach Jeremy Jean said.
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The Forrest Lady Rockets continued their early season hot streak as they travelled to Cascade Tuesday night and came up with an easy 49-23 win for their fourth win in a row and six out of seven to start the season.
“It was a sloppy game and we talked about that at halftime and the girls knew it, but we defended well enough for the 49 points to be the winning score,” Forrest coach Jeremy Jean said.
Forrest (6-1) was led in the scoring column by Laura Mealer with 18 points and nine rebounds while Carissa Curtis was also in double figures with 15 points.
Curtis led a stifling Forrest pressing defense that caused havoc with seven first half steals and a myriad of Cascade turnovers that turned in to an insurmountable 30-11 halftime lead for the Lady Rockets.
“That is what we are trying to do this year, even if teams do get easy bucks early, we are still trying to set the tempo to where we want it to be at and we did that tonight,” Jean said. “They had a few open shots, but they were shots I’m sure those kids don’t shoot on their own…15 or 17 footers in transition and that’s what we are trying to do and we did a good job of that.”
Mealer scored off a steal and score to open the scoring in the contest before Maddie Crosslin got the Lady Champs on the scoreboard.
An Anna Blanton bucket was followed by a Curtis steal and score and moments later, Curtis swiped the rock again and raced to the hoop for a deuce, making it 9-2.
Crosslin scored again for Cascade before Mealer nailed a corner 3-pointer to put Forrest up 12-4.
A couple of dry scoring possessions went by for both squads until Caroline Stone knocked in a bucket for the Lady Champions, but the Lady Rockets finished the first quarter with six straight points on an Anna Blanton layup, a Mealer bucket on a pretty backdoor play, and a Jaide Langley jumper in the lane for an 18-6 lead.
Forrest put the game away early as Curtis banged home a 3-pointer to start the second quarter and Mealer followed with a steal and dish to Curtis for a score.
A Cascade missed field goal led to another backdoor bucket for Mealer and after a Cascade timeout, Anna Blanton swiped the rock and fed Mealer to open up a big 27-8 lead.
Carmen Ray finally got the Lady Champs some points on two free throws with 4:33 remaining in the second quarter and after a Forrest missed shot, McKenna Lamb nailed the only 3-pointer of the night for the home team to make it a 27-11 contest.
Forrest scored the final four points in the first half on a Megan Mealer jumper and two free throws by Anna Blanton for a 19-point lead at the break.
Murdock nailed two free throws at the outset of the second half and had the ball back on a Forrest missed shot only to see Mealer steal the rock and score again.
Both teams came up with 10 points apiece in the third period as Forrest maintained the 19-point lead, entering the fourth period.
The Curtis/Mealer combo struck again with Curtis scoring on a short jumper and after a Cascade brick, Mealer rained home a 3-point bomb to put Forrest up 45-21.
Moments later Curtis hit one-of-two from the free throw line for a 25-point lead and Jean emptied the bench as the Lady Rockets cruised to the win.
“All in all a win is a win, it was an ugly win, but it’s better than a pretty loss,” Jean said. “Knock on wood we are staying healthy, they like each other, they are having fun out there, they are playing hard, playing together, and if we do that we have a chance to be in every ballgame.”
The win was third consecutive road victory for Forrest, who do not play at home the rest of 2019.
Their seven-game road trip continues at Lawrence County (3-1) Friday night.
After battling the Lady Wildcats, Forrest has three consecutive tough road tests as they travel to Moore County, Eagleville, and Summertown before returning to home confines on January 2, 2020 versus Summertown.
Forrest 18 12 10 9-49
Cascade 6 5 10 2-23
Forrest (49): Laura Mealer 18, Carissa Curtis 15, Anna Blanton 7, Jaide Langley 4, Megan Mealer 2, Ryann Lewis 2, Alex Davenport 1.
Three-point goals (3): Mealer 2, Curtis.
Free Throws (4-for-11): Curtis 2-for-4, Davenport 1-for-2, Anna Blanton 1-for-4, Mealer 0-for-1.
Cascade (23): Carmen Ray 6, Maddie Crosslin 4, Ally Murdock 4, McKenna Lamb 3, Jordan Green 2, Caroline Stone 2, Abby Luttrell 1, Lani Jones 1.
Three-point goals (1): Lamb.
Free Throws (10-for-14): Ray 4-for-4, Murdock 4-for-4, Jones 1-for-2, Luttrell 1-for-4.
Halftime Score: Forrest 30, Cascade 11.