The second seeded FMS Rockets got off to a mildly slow start before revving up the engines and exploding past Eagleville in a 47-26 first round win in the 52nd Annual World Tournament in Chapel Hill Monday night.

"It's always nice to get that first win," said FMS head coach Randy Toombs. "I thought we drew the hardest team, because we only beat Eagleville by five points over there and by seven here, so it was a fun and good win."

The Rockets had all their arsenal of weapons in order, from a bevy of long-range missiles that sparked the offense, to a shared post presence defense versus Eagle big man Chavalier Sutton, plus the execution of a stifling press defense in the frontcourt that turned the tide of the game.

Good execution

"We executed everything we planned and I am very proud of the boys," said Toombs.

After falling behind 3-0, Jacob Rich tied the game with a trey.

Sutton came up with a rebound and put-back, but Dustin Brashear nailed a three-pointer and the Rockets added two more points by Alex Huey off an Eagleville turnover.

The Eagles called timeout after the Huey basket, and after the stoppage and a missed shot, Brashear went downtown again, extending the FMS lead to 11-5.

Sam Hawk scored for the Eagles at the end of the first quarter and the game went to the pivotal second period with the Rockets in front 11-7.

Stealing away

Just seconds after the whistle blew to begin play in the second quarter, Ty Hengesbach drilled a long range three-bomb before Rich swiped the ensuing inbounds pass and laid it in for a score, making it 16-7.

Huey got into the thievery with a swipe and steal to put Forrest up 18-7 and force an Eagleville timeout with 5:30 remaining in the first half.

The Rockets would lead by as many as 11 points on two occasions during the stanza, both coming on Hengesbach buckets, but Sutton and the Eagles would claw their way back, trailing by six at the half 23-17.

An Eagleville missed shot began the second half and the Rockets proceeded to kick in the engines that put the game away, beginning with a Dylan Jones bucket in the paint.

Rich made it a 27-17 ballgame with a steal and score, and one possession later, Rich came up with a rebound and put-back, extending the Rockets' lead to a dozen points.

FMS took a 35-24 lead into the fourth quarter and the Rockets turned on the afterburners, blasting the Eagles 12-2 in the final eight minutes to win going away.

Tournament play

Forrest will be back in action Thursday night at 7:45 p.m., taking on the winner of the MTCS/Community first match-up on Wednesday.

The World Tournament, or in recent years, The Duck River Valley Conference Tournament championship game will be Saturday night at 5:15 p.m.

"It's one at a time from here, but we hope we get another re-match with Middle Tennessee Christian because we feel like they have not seen our best yet," said Toombs. "The boys are really cool kids and they want another shot at them."

Rich led all scorers with 16 points in the contest and Hengesbach was also in double figures with 13 for FMS.

Brashear ended up with six points, Huey scored four, Josh Meglish nailed a late trey, Jones had the one post bucket, and Daniil Yatskov had a single marker for the Rockets.

Sutton ended up with 12 points for Eagleville, while Ethan Cobb netted seven, Cody Pepper had 3, and Hawk and Parker Stuard added a deuce apiece.