Mealer scores 1000th point, scorches Viqueens

Anthony S. Puca Sports Editor
Posted 2/23/21

Forrest senior Laura Mealer put on a show at Unionville in Tuesday night’s District 12-AA semifinal, pouring in a career-high 31 points to lead the Lady Rockets to a 49-41 win and a meeting at Nolensville tonight for the district championship.

“A team goal we established at the beginning of the year was to play for a district championship,” Forrest coach Corey Bishop said. “This is the first that has happened since the 2013-2014 season, so to have a chance to be in this game is huge for the program.”

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Mealer scores 1000th point, scorches Viqueens

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Forrest senior Laura Mealer put on a show at Unionville in Tuesday night’s District 12-AA semifinal, pouring in a career-high 31 points to lead the Lady Rockets to a 49-41 win and a meeting at Nolensville tonight for the district championship.

“A team goal we established at the beginning of the year was to play for a district championship,” Forrest coach Corey Bishop said. “This is the first that has happened since the 2013-2014 season, so to have a chance to be in this game is huge for the program.”

“We are excited about the challenge of getting to play in this game.”

The three-time defending district champion Lady Knights have beaten Forrest 10 straight times, dating back to 2016.

“Nolensville plays very well in their gym, but we are going to have a game plan that will give our time the best opportunity to be successful,” Bishop said. “Usually this time of the year, the team that has strong mental toughness and plays the hardest predominately has the most success.”

The Lady Rockets’ last district title game appearance was in the 2013-2014 season when they lost to Community and Forrest’s last district tournament title came via a win over Moore County in the 2009-2010 season.

Forrest will host a Region 6-AA Tournament first-round game at Chapel Hill Friday night versus either Fairview or Stewart County, who play in the District 11-AA consolation game tonight.

“From where we began at the beginning of the year until now, it has just been constant improvement,” Bishop said. “The girls have worked extremely hard and I'm so proud of the way they have continued to play hard for one another. This is definitely a fun group to be around.”

Mealer scored the first six points of the game for Forrest to break the 1,000 career point barrier and then controlled the ball and the game for the Lady Rockets.

“It was one of the best individual performances I've seen personally,” Bishop said. “Laura Mealer is someone who has continuously improved her game and I think she is flourishing being the orchestrator on offense.”

“She's a great player, but along with Carissa Curtis, a better leader.”

Mealer got plenty of help from her teammates with the game tied at 9-9 late in the first quarter when Macyn Kirby drove in for a layup, Addison Bunty came up with a rebound and put-back, and Ryann Lewis hit one of two from the free throw line to make it14-9.

Bunty finished with seven points, Kirby added five, Megan Mealer had one 3-pointer, and Lewis netted three points.

Community’s MJ Simmons, who led Viqueens in the scoring column with 20 points, knocked down a low post bucket to end the first period with Forrest in front 14-11.

Simmons went off in the second period, scoring 12 points in the stanza on four field goals, one free throw, and a 3-pointer from the top of key as Community took a 26-23 halftime lead.

Forrest played from behind the entire third quarter, trailing 36-34 entering the final stanza.

The action went back-and-forth for the first four minutes until a Bunty steal led to the go-ahead bucket by Mealer, making it a 42-41 contest with 3:22 left in the game.

“We had a good idea of what Community was going to do on offense going into the second half,” Bishop said. “I was really proud of how our posts Alex Davenport, Ryann Lewis, and Megan Mealer played defensively.”

“We held them to one offensive rebound. That's a lot of credit to those three players for controlling the paint.”

Moments later a technical foul was called on the Unionville coach and Kirby made one-of-two for a two-point Forrest lead and possession of the ball.

There was no scoring over the next two minutes plus until Mealer stepped to the free throw line with 42.6 seconds left and drilled both charity shots to increase the Forrest lead to 45-41.

After a Community missed shot, Mealer hit one-of-two from the free throw line for a 46-41 lead and another with under 20 seconds to play to make it a six-point contest.

Kirby finished off the Viqueens with two more free throws for the eight-point victory and the trip to play for the title versus the tough Lady Knights.

“It'll be a huge challenge for sure, coach (Chris) Ladd does a great job with his team,” Bishop said. “Controlling the pace of the game, as well as maintaining our composure will be keys.”

“This game will be determined by who wants to win the most and doing the little things it takes to win.”

Forrest 14 9 11 15-49

Community 11 15 10 5-41

Forrest (49): Laura Mealer 31, Addison Bunty 7, Macyn Kirby 5, Megan Mealer 3, Ryann Lewis 3.

Three-Point Goals (2): Lauren Mealer, Megan Mealer.

Free Throws (15-for-22): Laura Mealer 10-for-13, Kirby 4-for-5, Bunty 1-for-3, Lewis 1-for-2.

Community (36): MJ Simmons 20, Haley Mitchell 17, Addison Brothers 3, Brenna Whitaker 1.

Three-Point Goals (6): Mitchell 5, Simmons.

Free Throws (3-for-7): Simmons 1-for-2, Whitaker 1-for-2, Brothers 1-for-1, Brianna Beech 0-for-2.

Halftime Score: Community 26, Forrest 23.