The FMS Lady Rockets engaged in a physical tussle Monday night versus the MTCS Lady Cougars in Murfreesboro and after the dust had settled, the Chapel Hill girls came away with a bruising, hard-fought 28-20 win.

Forrest came out with a purpose, scoring the first seven points in the contest with Katey Harmon opening the lid on the basket with an early jumper.

Moments later, Madison Curtis stole the ball and went the distance for a lay-in, making it four-zip.

Forrest lead

MTCS could not find their shooting eye and Jordan Yelensky hit one of two from the free throw line for FMS before Curtis knocked in a rebound two possessions later for the 7-0 margin.

The Lady Rocket defense was going for a first quarter shutout, but MTCS's Sarah Cox broke the goose egg with a basket in the paint with 44 seconds remaining in the first period.

Curtis was fouled with no time left on the clock and would hit one of two, standing alone at the charity stripe to give the visitors an 8-2 lead.

The Lady Cougars found their rhythm in the second quarter and outscored FMS 12-6 to knot the contest at 14 apiece with the tying basket coming on a Cox steal and score with 41 seconds left in the first half.

Kayla Taylor hit three out of four from the foul line early in the second half before the FMS defense put the pinch on the Lady Cougars for the balance of the third quarter.

Shots go up

Meanwhile, Forrest went to work on the offensive end, sparked by consecutive baskets by Deavin Myatt that put FMS in the lead for good midway through the stanza.

The play was getting rougher as time went on and a technical foul on FMS coach Rhea Webb for being out of the coach's box seemed to fire up the Lady Rockets, especially Caitlin McKenzie, who muscled in a pair of baskets near the end of the quarter, giving Forrest a 22-17 lead, entering the final six minutes of hard court action.

In the fourth quarter, nary a field goal was made as both squads engaged in close quarter action with the difference in the outcome of the game coming from the Lady Rockets stern defensive effort and their ability to hit enough free throws when fouled trying to take the air out of the ball.

FMS made just six of sixteen from the line in the quarter, but held MTCS without a field goal and the Lady Courgars made just 3-5 from the charity stripe to allow Forrest a nice yellow bus ride home due to the important eight-point conference victory.

Stats

Curtis led the Lady Rockets in the scoring column with eight points, Harmon scored seven, McKenzie netted five, Myatt had four, and Yelensky rounded out the Forrest scoring with a trio of markers.

Taylor ended up with eight points for MTCS, Cox scored six, Abby Hagerman had three points on one trey, and Kinsley Welker netted one point for the Lady Cougars.