After having stubbed their toe against Nolensville in the regular season finale loss that prevented them from clinching sole possession of first place in the district, followed by a District 12-AA semifinal loss to Murfreesboro Central Magnet School at Dottie Kelso Memorial Gym, the Marshall County Tigers were left to host a consolation game against the Forrest Rockets, who were coming off a win against Nolensville.

The Tigers, with a furious and smothering trapping defense in the third quarter, withstood a poor free throw shooting exhibition to squeeze by the Rockets 49-48.

“The pressure we applied in the third quarter was the difference, especially as it turned out we were having trouble scoring in the fourth quarter,” MCHS coach LaVon King said. “This is something we talked about early in the season, that we would have to pick up the tempo if we were having trouble scoring.”

“We do this (pressure defense) well because the kids are quick and they read each other well. We will try to carry this over against Fairview this Saturday night in our first Region 6 game.”

After the game, King was named as the District 12-AA Coach of the Year.

Jayden Hart led the Tigers in the scoring column with13 points while Bryson Hughes and Devonte Davis were also in double figures with 12 and 10 points respectively.

Deason Jones and Walker Herring had 11 points apiece to lead the Rockets.

CJ Sanchez ended up with eight points, Andrew Timmons had seven, Cole Perryman six, Hunter Bennett added three, and Brennan Mealer finished with two points.

The Rockets controlled the tip, but Hart stole an errant pass and scored on a short jumper to put the Tigers up 2-0.

Mealer scored to tie it up at 2-2 before Davis and Herring swapped baskets.

Alred sank a free throw and added a basket and Kaamil Hazel drilled a jumper that put the Tigers up 9-4.

Herring added a basket and Cole Perryman sank two free throws before Alred ended the scoring in the first quarter with a jumper from the lane as MCHS led 11-8 when the horn sounded.

The second quarter began with Davis sinking a free throw before Hughes drilled a jumper and then came up with a nifty assist to Hart, who laid the ball in and suddenly the Tigers led 16-8.

Forrest coach Corey Bishop called time to give his charges a break and give the team a chance to regroup.

The break worked for the Rockets as Sanchez nailed a jumper, was fouled and made the free throw to complete an old-fashion three-point play.

Jones sank a deep 3-pointer to cut the MCHS lead to two points at 16-14 and Hughes and Herring traded baskets.

Hart sank two free throws to make the score 20-16, but the Rockets responded with a beautiful reverse lay-up by Bennett that made it 20-18.

An omen of what was to come by the Tigers surfaced on a missed a free throw and with time running down, Sanchez swished a 3-pointer from the top of the arc as the horn sounded to give Forrest their only lead of the first half at 21-20.

The third quarter saw the Tigers pressuring the Forrest ball handlers relentlessly.

Davis, the Hazel brothers, and Alred had their feet and hands moving in a blur, trapping and causing turnovers that the Tigers turned into points.

Davis, Hart, Hughes, and Kaamil Hazel combined for 15 points in the balanced scoring attack in the period for the Tigers, who turned a one-point disadvantage in to a 12-point lead at 35-23 at the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter saw things begin to fall apart for the Tigers.

Timmons cut the lead to seven points with a 3-pointer with less than five minutes left in the game.

The Tigers sank a free-throw, but then Jones sank a long 3-pointer to cut the MCHS lead to five points with 2:18 left in the game.

Forrest now applied pressure by fouling and the Tigers found pressure at the free-throw line.

Davis and Hart sank one of two free-throws each to push the lead back to seven points at 45-38 at the one minute mark.

Walker scored inside to make it 45-40 before Hughes sank two free-throws that stretched the lead to seven points.

Then on back-to-back possessions after missed Tiger free-throws, Jones hit a jumper then a long 3-pointer to close the gap to two points at 47-45

Hughes nailed a jumper to make it 49-45 with 22.8 seconds left in the game and Herring swished a corner 3-pointer with 10 seconds left and the Rockets trailed by one point.

Again, after a missed free throw by the Tigers, the Rockets had one more chance, this time to win the game, but Herring’s shot was partially blocked by Davis and sailed off the mark.

The Tiger faithful breathed a sigh of relief as MCHS squeezed by 49-48 for third place in the district tournament.

Davis, Alred, Hughes, and Kaamil Hazel were named to the All-District Regular Season team and Jayden Hart was selected to the All-Tournament squad.

Herring was named to both the All-District Regular and Tournament teams.

Forrest 8 13 3 24-48

MCHS 11 9 15 14-49

Forrest (48) Deason Jones 11, Walker Herring 11, C J Sanchez 8, Andrew Timmons 7, Cole Perryman 6, Hunter Bennett 3, Brennan Mealer 2.

Three-Point Goals (6): Jones 3, Timmons, Sanchez, Herring.

Free Throws (8-for-11): Jones 2-for-2, Perryman 2-for-2, Timmons 2-for-2, Sanchez 1-for-1, Bennett 1-for-2, Herring 0-for-2.

MCHS (52): Jayden Hart 13, Bryson Hughes 12, Devonte Davis 10, Omarion Alred 6, Kaamil Hazel 5, Jaamil Hazel 2, Silas Hurt 1.

3-Point Goals (0):

Free Throws (14-for-35): Hughes 2-for-6, Davis 4-for-8, Kaamil Hazel 3-for-6, Jayden Hart 3-for-6, Alred 1-for-4, Hurt 1-for-3, Jaamil Hazel 0-for-2.

Halftime Score: Forrest 21, MCHS 20.