The Forrest Rockets held the lead at the end of each of the first three quarters versus Summertown Tuesday night in Chapel Hill, only to see it slip away in the fourth quarter of a 67-58 defeat.

"I was very disappointed with our defense in the second half. We knew our game plan going into the game was to stop the dribble drive, not get beat off the dribble and guard against the three pointers," said FHS head coach Wes

Hobbs. "The first half, we seemed to do that pretty well, but the second half we couldn't keep their guards from driving to the basket."

The loss was the second in a row for the Rockets, who fell to 3-7 on the season, while Summertown notched their third win in a row to improve to 5-3 on the campaign.

Positive signs

"To take a positive from this game, we are starting to see where our toughness lies on the team and who we can count on to give quality minutes in crucial situations," said Hobbs. "As we get into district play, the things we learn from games like this one will be priceless for us."

The difference in the contest was Summertown's Tanner McGill, who scored nine out of his 12 points in the decisive fourth period, including an early 3-pointer that gave the Eagles the lead for good and a rock solid 6-6 performance from the free-throw line that iced the game.

Forrest got off to nice start in the game as the two squads went neck and neck before a Blake Leonard bucket in the paint, followed by Colton Cook basket with a few ticks remaining in the first quarter gave the Rockets an 18-12 lead after the first eight minutes.

The Rockets would build their lead to seven points midway through the second quarter before the Eagles came back again, slicing the FHS lead to 26-24 on Tyler Clark trey with two minutes remaining in the first half.

Halftime lead

The Rockets were up to the task, ending the second quarter with a 7-2 run, including a last second three-bomb by Kennedy Mathis that gave the home team a 33-26 lead.

The Eagles came out of the halftime break on fire, outscoring the Rockets 17-4 over a six-minute stretch that gave them a 43-37 lead.

Once again, the Rockets clawed their way back in the game as a Lucas Pruitt bucket began a 10-0 run that was capped off by a Mathis swipe and score at the end of period, putting Forrest in front 47-43, entering the final eight minutes of play.

Luke Scott and Leonard traded buckets to begin the fourth period before the Eagles soared as Scott, Timmy Beard, and McGill all nailed 3-pointers during a huge 11-0 run that gave Summertown a 56-49 lead midway through the stanza.

Forrest would not fold the tent as they ran off to a 9-5 run, cutting the Eagles' lead to 61-58 on two Will Edmondson free throws with 43.5 seconds remaining in the game.

Foul play

The Rockets came up with a steal after the Edmondson free throws, but could not convert at the other end and from there, McGill went 4-4 and Scott went 2-2 from the free-throw line to ice the contest.

Ty Hoeft led the Rockets in the scoring column with 15 points, while Pruitt (seven rebounds) and Edmondson each tallied 10 points apiece.

Mathis ended up with nine points and six rebounds, Leonard added eight points, Cook scored five, and Jacob Daughrity converted one free throw in the contest.

"We had some guys off the bench really step up tonight and give us a spark when we needed it," said Hobbs. "Several different times, younger players came in for us and stopped a run by Summertown and gave us some energy."

Scott had 15 points to lead the Eagles' tally sheet, while McGill had a dozen, Beard netted 10, Camden Perry added eight, Clark and Nathaniel Morrison both scored seven points, and Adrian Price and Nick Ridner scored four points apiece.