Stories from Wednesday, November 23, 2016

The Forrest hoops squads opened the 2016 campaign at Chapel Hill in a Hall of Champions matchup versus Lincoln County Thursday night and both teams lost close games with the Lady Rockets falling 46-41, while the Rockets went down 63-57. The Lady Rockets had a poor first half, scoring just 13 points compared to 34 for the Lady Falcons. Foul trouble caused Forrest to shuffle players in early and by game's end, Lincoln County had converted 18-of-34 from the free throw line, while the Lady Rockets went 8-for-13 in the contest.

For the second season in a row, the Marion County Warriors handed the Forrest Rockets a season ending loss on their home turf at Murrey E. Holton Memorial Field in Chapel Hill. And for the second time, it wasn't close. In a dominating performance, the Warriors outgained the Rockets on offense 435-to-181 and won in a landslide 55-14. "That was not the way we wanted it to go tonight," Forrest coach Brent Johns said. "It was good a good start and at halftime we were still OK."

For the second time in as many seasons, the Tigers are moving on to the state semi-finals with a shot at the ultimate prize--a berth in the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association's state finals and a chance to bring the gold ball back to Lewisburg for the first time since 1984. Last season, Marshall County came up one game short of the finals appearance after falling 54-35 to eventual state champion Knoxville Catholic, but this time the Tigers have the advantage of taking on surprise semifinalist Knoxville Central (11-2) in front of a rowdy home crowd at Preston Hopkins Field in Lewisburg Friday night.

ith a state semi-final berth on the line Marshall County handled the much anticipated rematch with Spring Hill just as the Tigers had the previous two playoff opponents--with a dominating win in all phases of the game. And minus one long run in the first quarter to keep things close initially and another score with the second team defense in the game, the Tigers held the Raiders in check for a dominating 53-13 triumph.

Wednesday, November 23 9:00 Lincoln County vs. Nolensville 10:30 Community vs. Mt. Pleasant 12:00 Creek Wood vs. Marshall County 1:30 Summertown vs. Giles County 3:00 Cascade vs. Creek Wood 4:30 Summertown vs. Cascade BOYS 6:00 Forrest vs. Dickson County...