The Forrest Rockets were winless at 0-2 after an early morning 54-30 loss to Pope John Paul II Saturday before posting their first victory of the season when they ran off to a big 55-36 triumph over Houston County to cap off boys action in the Hall of Champions Day in Chapel Hill.

"We played pretty good most of the night," said Forrest head coach Wes Hobbs. "We got going in the second half when we began to press and it gave us some energy and some easy baskets that got us into a rhythm."

Super night

Forrest senior Kennedy Mathis turned in an unbelievable performance, especially on the defensive end of the ball where he came up with an incredible 10 steals in the contest, including five in the deciding fourth quarter.

"I was going for every loose ball, playing real hard with high intensity like we do every day in practice," said Mathis. "It feels great to get that first win and get the monkey off your back."

Mathis also scored 8 points, had five rebounds and one blocked shot for the Rockets.

"We seem to have had a different person step up every game," said Hobbs. "Tonight it was Mathis, who did a great job anticipating in the post, sneaking up on the press and getting those steals, so we could get some easy lay-ups."

Good beginning

A Mathis swipe and lay-in opened the scoring in the game and after an Irish missed shot, Will Edmondson went downtown, making it 5-0.

Forrest would lead by seven late in the first period before Houston County's Coby Lewis scored with a few seconds remaining to make it 13-8 in favor of the Rockets.

After a Lucas Pruitt low post bucket made it 15-12 early in the second quarter, the Irish came back with four straight points to go ahead 16-15.

Forrest would tie the game on one Caleb Keller free throw before Mathis' thievery began to pay serious dividends as the Rockets regained the lead at 21-18 after a Mathis steal and dish to Ty Hoeft and another Mathis steal that led to a pair of free throws by the Rocket post-man.

Houston County's Nolan Fazzell, who led all scorers in the contest with 23 points, netted the final three points of the first half, tying the game at 21.

Back in front

Colton Singleton opened up the scoring in the second half for the Irish, but a deep three by Edmondson and a steal and score by Mathis made it a 26-23 ballgame.

Houston County would not go away, eventually tying the game at 30 on a Fazzell basket in the paint with 3:20 left in the third quarter.

A Colton Cook three-pointer, followed by a Pruitt score in the low post gave Forrest a 35-30 lead, but Fazzell made it three-point game on the last score of the stanza.

Jake Townsend muscled in a low post basket to start the fourth quarter and after a Houston County turnover, Mathis tallied a bucket in the paint to make it 39-32.

A Mathis steal led to two free throws by Hoeft as the Rockets continued to surge ahead before Fazzell stopped the run with a basket.

Mathis steps up

Cook scored at the other end for the Rockets and from there, Mathis took over the game when he came up with consecutive steals and assists to Hoeft on the run for a pair of lay-ups, making it 47-34.

After a Houston County brick, Cook put the final dagger in place, drilling a long three-bomb that extended Forrest's lead to 50-34.

"Houston County is somebody we could meet again down the road in the region, so it was really good to come out and play hard and get the win versus these guys," said Hobbs.

Hoeft led the Rockets in the scoring column with 11 points, while Cook was also in double figures with 10, Townsend added seven, Pruitt and Edmondson netted a half dozen apiece, Keller added four, and Hawken King drilled a game ending buzzer beating three-pointer for a trio of markers in the contest.