After a heartbreaking 41-39 loss at Perry County on Tuesday, the Forrest Lady Rockets exploded at home on in Friday night's District 9A opener, blowing out Fayetteville 66-19.

"It's good to get that first district win and get a win after Perry County," Forrest coach Jeremy Jean said. "We played defense the way we are capable of playing. I don't think we can hold everyone to 19 points every night, but I know we can play defense like that, night in and night out."

Team goal

Junior Caitlyn Yost led the way in the scoring column, posting a game-high 25 points, including four 3-pointers.

"We have this motto know that we use 'Be the shark in the fish tank' and we had that common goal tonight that everyone wanted to win and blow them out of the water," said Yost. "We have to do that every game where everyone wants to play together and start on our defense, which carries over to our offense."

The Lady Tigers held an early 5-4 lead after one successful free throw by Trevah Thompson with 5:20 remaining in the first before Forrest blasted off, scoring 23 unanswered points the rest of the first quarter.

"They got them down and stepped on their throat so to speak and kept them down and that is something we have missed the past couple of years," Jean said.

Big play

Kyleah Hengesbach lit the rally fire with a steal and score and Yost dropped a dozen points in the surge, while Hailey Collins and Dani Hoeft contributed one 3-pointer apiece as Forrest led 28-6 at the end of the first period.

Yost nailed another trey to begin the second quarter and a Tamia Northcutt bucket swelled the Forrest hot streak to 28-0 before Kerry Brown scored for Fayetteville with 6:18 left in the first half.

After a Brown bucket made it 35-12 midway through the second quarter, Forrest put the game away for good with a 7-0 run to end the period, including a Hengesbach 3-poiner as time wound down in the first half.

Far ahead

Yost scored the first seven points in the second half, while Hengesbach and Sydney Hill tallied a basket apiece as Forrest increased its lead to 53-12 before Horton made one foul shot to end the Lady Rockets' run.

Forrest (5-4, 1-0) led 58-15 at the end of the third quarter and outscored the Lady Tigers 8-4 in the fourth quarter to claim the 47-point win.

"You have to want to win more than the other team every night and come out focused and ready to play," Yost said. "You have to love the game to do that, so we all have to love the game or you won't come out every night like you want to win."

Fayetteville 6 6 3 4-19

Forrest 28 14 16 8-66

Fayetteville-DJ Horton 8, Kerry Brown 6, Trevah Thompson 2.

Three-point goals-Horton1.

Forrest-Caitlyn Yost 25, Kyleah Hengesbach 12, Hailey Collins 7, Sydney Hill 6, Dani Hoeft 5, Tamia Northcutt 5, Madison Curtis 2, Katey Harmon 2, Grace Thrasher 2.

Three-point goals-Yost 4, Hoeft 1, Hengesbach 1, Collins 1, Northcutt 1.