The sixth-seeded Forrest Rockets wound their way down Highway 31-A through Lewisburg and Cornersville down into Bobcat territory to for a do-or-die game with three-seeded Giles County on Tuesday night in first round action of the District 12-AA Tournament.

Despite having been swept by the Bobcats in the two regular season games, Forrest built an eight-point halftime lead Giles County could not overcome and the Rockets lived to see another day with a 59-51 victory.

“We prepared all weekend, we had a really good scouting report on them, and the guys did a great job of executing that scouting report with our game plan,” Forrest coach Corey Bishop said.

At tournament time, regular season wins and losses mean nothing as a brand new season begins.

The Rockets face number two-seeded Nolensville in Friday night’s second semifinal game while top-seeded Community takes on Murfreesboro Central Magnet School, who beat MCHS at Lewisburg Tuesday night in the other first round game.

The win also secured Forrest a spot in the next week’s Region 6-AA Tournament at Community.

Cameron Curtis led all scorers in the contest with 20 points and Spencer McCown was also in double figures with 16 points.

The first quarter saw both teams undoubtedly nervous knowing the do-or-die implications of the game and when Curtis nailed a 3-point shot to put the Rockets on the board first, almost two and a half minutes was already gone in the game.

McCown and Walker Herring also scored for Forrest as they led 7-6 at the end of the first quarter.

“We knew we had to come out fast, keep the lead, and execute the game plan,” Curtis said.

The second quarter saw the Rockets take off on a six-point run before Dakorbian Bellefant scored for the Bobcats to make it 13-8.

Curtis and McCown kept the pace going for the Rockets and with four minutes left in the first half, CJ Sanchez rained in a 3-pointer, was fouled, and sank the free throw for a four-point play to put Forrest ahead by eight points at 24-16.

The Bobcats came back, but at the half the Rockets held on to that eight-point lead and went to the dressing room leading 28-20.

The Rockets struck first in the third quarter as Curtis knocked down a 3-pointer just as he had done in the first quarter and when Sanchez sank a free throw Forrest extended their lead to 32-22.

Jake Cardin came alive from outside for Giles County, draining a 3-pointer and sinking two free throws and the Bobcats cut the lead to four points at 34-30.

Late baskets by McCown and Timmons pushed the lead to six points at 40-34, but a late 3-pointer by Cardin cut the Rockets’ lead to three points at the end of the third quarter.

“We had a little letdown in the second half, but we kept the lead and kept up our energy and that’s all that matters,” Curtis said.

Forrest again went on a six-point run to open the final quarter with Curtis and McCown continuing their slashing drives through the Bobcat defense and the Rockets opened a nine-point 46-37 lead.

From there until the end of the game, the Bobcats could not edge closer as their shots fell off the rim and the Rockets grabbed rebounds and used the clock to melt away time.

As fitting for the Rockets, Curtis scored on a layup and Timmons sank a free throw to finish the scoring for Forrest.

The horn sounded and an elated team of Rockets celebrated their 59-51 victory.

Forrest 7 21 12 19-59

Giles County 6 14 17 14-51

Forrest (59): Cameron Curtis 20, Spencer McCown 16, Andrew Timmons 9, C J Sanchez 5, Walker Herring 4, Joel Burton 3. Cole Villazon 2.

Three-Point Goals (3): Curtis 2, Sanchez.

Free Throws (11-for-17): Curtis 4-for-4, McCown 4-for-7, Sanchez 2-for-4, Burton 0-for1, Timmons 0-for-1.

Giles County (70): Jake Cardin 14, Zy Yarbrough 11, Devin Johnson 11, Dakorbian Bellefant 7, J.C. Brown 6, Gavin Busby 2.

Three-point Goals (2): Cardin 2.

Free Throws (10-for-16): Cardin 6-for-7, Brown 2-for-4, Bellefant 0-for-1, Yarbrough 1-for-1, Johnson 1-for-3.

Halftime Score: Forrest 28, Giles County 20.