The Forrest Rockets took several shots on the chin Monday night in Santa Fe, but hung tough the entire contest to claim a bruising 66-50 win.

There were 51 fouls whistled in the game and 51 free throws attempted with Forrest going 14-29, while Santa Fe managed only nine makes in 22 tries.

"It was a very physical game and it always is coming over here," said Forrest head coach Wes Hobbs. "I am real proud of our post play, we were really able to get it inside and they were putting it up and finishing and they are starting to understand that this opens up the shots, opens up the driving lanes and really gets our offense going."

Run pays off

The two squads played to a 14-14 tie in the first quarter before the Rockets got the upper hand via a 7-1 run to begin the second quarter.

Will Edmondson hit one of two from the free throw line to begin the surge before Blake Leonard followed moments later with a three-point play in the paint.

Thomas Hawkins made one free throw for Santa Fe and Edmondson followed with a deep three-ball for a 21-15 Forrest lead.

Forrest would eventually build their lead to eight points and then to 10 points on two Leonard free throws with 2:50 remaining in the first half.

Lead cut

After a Wildcat turnover, Ty Hoeft scored to make it 32-20 and Hoeft followed with a theft before hitting one foul shot to make it a 33-20 contest.

The Rockets would take a 13-point margin to the halftime locker room, but after the break, the Wildcats came back with 10-3 run to begin the second half, cutting the FHS lead to 40-34.

Kennedy Mathis quelled the Santa Fe charge with a three-bomb from the top of the key before the Wildcats cut the lead to eight points late, but a buzzer beating rebound and put-back by Colton Cook extended the Forrest margin back to double digits at 51-41, entering the final eight minutes.

Leonard, who led all scorers in the contest with 19 points, knocked down a bruising rebound to start the final period and Jacob Daughrity followed with a three-pointer, making it a 15-point lead for the Rockets.

Big cushion

After a Wildcat miscue, Edmondson scored on an inbounds play under the Forrest basket, giving the Rockets a 58-41 cushion.

With 5:31 left to play in the contest, Leonard put the game away, scoring on three consecutive plays in the paint, giving the Rockets a commanding 64-41 lead as Forrest cruised home from there in the 16-point win.

"This was game we really needed, because we have let some teams come back on us," said Hobbs. "We really talked about at halftime about keeping our focus and push that lead out and finish stronger than we have in the past and you have to give it to the guys for doing that."

Hoeft scored 13 points for Forrest, Edmondson and Lucas Pruitt (10 rebounds) both netted nine, Daughrity finished with a half dozen, Mathis added five, Cook and Jake Townsend both scored a deuce, and Caleb Hogan ended up with a single marker.

Austin Winchester and Tyler Parham had 12 points apiece to lead the Wildcats in the scoring column.

Friday's foe

It will be a different type of battle Friday night in Fayetteville when the Rockets (5-7, 2-0) take on the high flying Tigers (7-3, 3-1), who average 66.3 points per game.

"That will be an up and down game over there, they will get out and run and challenge us in transition," said Hobbs. "I can see us going to a little bit smaller lineup over there and get some speed. As a team and as a coach you have to adapt to who you are playing and we are lucky we have a lot of guys that are willing to step in and do that."