Lady Rockets start slow, finish fast in first round win

The Forrest Lady Rockets moved to 2-1 on the young season after disposing of a gritty Santa Fe squad 79-57 Wednesday night in the first round of the Forrest Thanksgiving Classic.

The Curtner twins, Anna and Christina, who scored 24 and 20 points in the ballgame respectively, led the way for Forrest in the backcourt.

FHS sophomore Hannah Phifer's career high 15 points off the bench, included six points in a twenty-three point second quarter pull away.

A Phifer first quarter steal and dish to Kim Rochester for a bucket gave Forrest a 9-3 lead before Santa Fe scored six straight to tie the game.

Jillian Blanchett's last second basket gave the Lady Rockets an 11-9 lead after the first period.

Santa Fe would take the lead at 15-13 on a three-pointer by Emily Thompson early in the second quarter before the Lady Rockets exploded behind the hot hand of Christina Curtner, who lit the fuse with consecutive three-bombs.

Phifer knocked in a rebound for a score and then Christina Curtner went off on the defensive end, stealing the rock on two straight Lady Wildcat possessions for a basket on her own and a pretty pass to Megan Miller, who fed Phifer for an easy lay-up, extending the home team's lead to ten points at 25-15.

Christina Curtner hit her third trey of the quarter, Miller scored four points, and Phifer hit two foul shots before the half ended with Forrest leading by twelve points 34-22.

In the third period, it was the Anna Curtner show, who seemed to be everywhere in a nine-point effort that included a three-pointer and 2-2 from the foul line.

Phifer added five more during the run and Miller drained a long three at the end of the quarter that ended with Forrest holding a commanding 56-40 lead.

Santa Fe would not go away, mounting a comeback that cut the Forrest lead to 59-52 with 4:31 remaining in the contest.

The Lady Wildcats got the ball back and had chance to cut into the lead even farther, but could not capitalize as the Lady Finished them off and finished the game with a 12- 4 run for the 71-57 win.

Miller finished with 9 points and the Lady Rockets received some nice production in the post as Rochester and Blanchett loosened things up for the outside game, combining for 8 points down low.

Alyson Patton had two points and Maegan Gower scored 1 point for FHS.

Haley Warf, Jensen White, and Thompson all had a dozen points for Santa Fe.

Forrest takes on Lebanon tonight at 7:00 p.m. in the second round, while Santa Fe takes on Independence at 2:00 p.m.