In a battle of local rivals, the visiting FMS Rockets came away with a 29-22 win over Community in the nightcap, while the Lady Rockets fell 31-25 to the Viqueens in Unionville.

"Playing after a girls' loss is rough, it kind of gives the home team a sense of confidence," said FMS boys' coach Randy Toombs. "But, that's what makes basketball a unique monster, you have to learn to fight and win on the road."

Strong start

Fight they did as the Rockets came out strong, leading for much of the ballgame until they had to stave off a fourth-quarter charge by the Vikings.

Forrest won a low-scoring first quarter 5-4 and held a 13-6 lead after an Alex Huey bucket with three and a half minutes remaining in the first half.

Consecutive field goals by Community's Dillon Whitaker cut the FMS lead to three points and the Vikings got the ball back on a Forrest miscue before Jacob Rich came up big for the Rockets, stealing the rock and scoring.

Whitaker would score the final basket of the first half with the Rockets leading 15-12.

"Rich's steal was a good boost for us right there," said Toombs. "We needed that one and he came through." Turnovers hurt

A Rich basket to begin the second half gave FMS a five-point lead at 17-12 before turnovers let the Vikings creep back into the contest.

"The dreaded turnover bug keeps hounding us at key moments when we have a chance to pull away," said Toombs. "We either don't knock down the shot or we turn it over."

While the Rockets had butter fingers, the Vikings came back to within a single digit at 17-16, but Forrest's Josh Brown, who has been giving Toombs some quality minutes lately, scored in the low post to keep FMS in front 19-16, entering the final six minutes of play.

"Josh Brown has given us some really good minutes when I need someone to crash the boards and defend a good post player," said Toombs. "He doesn't get to practice during school due a schedule issue, but if he logged more practice time, he would see much more time during games."

A Whitaker basket followed by two free throws by Austin Bonner put the Vikings in front 20-19 with 4:27 to play in the contest.

Rich drained a long three-pointer for the Rockets, but Bonner scored again, tying the game at 22.

Winning finish

Daniil Yatskov got hot at the perfect time for Forrest, scoring on back-to-back possessions in the low post for the Rockets.

Brown came up with the defensive play of the game, stealing the rock with less than a minute to go in the ballgame.

Forrest would seal the game from the free-throw line with Rich making two and Ty Hengesbach converting one of two for the Rockets in the seven-point win.

"Finishing has been our team break motto every time during the second half," said Toombs. "They did that tonight and I'm very proud of these boys."

Rich led the Rockets in the scoring column with nine points, while Hengesbach finished with a half dozen, Dylan Jones and Yatskov netted four points apiece, and Dustin Brashear, Brown, and Huey all ended up with a deuce.

Falling back

In the opener, the Lady Rockets fell behind early 7-0 and could never catch up, although they made several courageous runs at the home team. After a Kizzey Lane basket gave the Viqueens the seven-zip lead, Forrest finally got on the scoreboard via a Madison Curtis swipe and score with 2:10 remaining in the first period.

Two free throws by Katey Harmon cut deeper into the Community lead, before Karla Pena and FMS's Caitlin McKenzie exchanged buckets near the end of the first quarter, making it an 11-6 lead for the Viqueens.

Jordan Yelensky opened up the scoring in the second quarter, cutting the lead to just three points for Community, who went on a tear, outscoring the Lady Rockets 12-3 for the remainder of the first half.

Forrest would not be able to pull within the double-digit deficit the rest of the period and trailed 29-15, entering the final six minutes of play in Unionville.

Down to business

Things were noticeably different in the fourth quarter as the Lady Rockets got down to business, especially on the defensive end.

Harmon would lead the charge at both ends of the floor and after the FMS eighth-grader came up with her second steal and score of the period, the Lady Rockets trailed by seven at 29-22 with two minutes remaining in the game.

Haley Reed scored for Community and after a Forrest missed shot, Pena hit one of two from the free-throw line to build Community's lead back to double digits at 31-21.

Harmon and Emma Stacey scored for FMS, but there was not enough time left on the clock to complete the comeback and visitors went home with the six-point loss.

Harmon ended up with 11 points, including a 7-8 performance from the free-throw line to lead the Lady Rockets in scoring, while Yelensky netted six, McKenzie had four points, and Curtis and Stacey scored two points apiece.

Pena led the Viqueens with 11 points.