By Tabitha Evans Moore | EDITOR & PUBLISHER

CHAPEL HILL — In a heart-stopping finish, Moore County’s Colton Morey sank a buzzer-beating three-pointer to seal a 39-36 victory over Forrest on Tuesday night, igniting a wave of celebration as teammates stormed the court. It was a game filled with grit, strategy, and last-second heroics.

Tuesday night was the second meet up between the two teams this season. Forrest beat Moore County 53-41 on December 13 in Lynchburg. In that game, the Rockets led by 17 at the end of the third quarter, then Moore County senior Brantley Hill got hot from behind the perimeter in the fourth quarter to help the Raiders make a run at a comeback. Unfortunately, it was a little too little a little too late and the Raiders took the “L.” {To read our full coverage of that game, click here.}

On Tuesday, Forrest played without their big post player Tristen Goad. Goad took a nasty injury in the Rockets’ loss to Grundy County on December 6 and will likely be out for the next several games.

{Editor’s Note: This year’s Raiders’ basketball coverage is free to all readers thanks to our community partner, Woodard’s Market.}

Morey, Martin combined for eight first period points

The Raiders jumped out to an early first period lead on Tuesday. The Rockets won the tip off but the Raiders came out in a man-to-man defense and forced the turnover on Forrest’s first possession. Then, in a bit of a foreshadowing, Moore County got on the board first with a deep three by Colton Morey. Morey scored nine points against Forrest – including the game-winning three – and all from the perimeter. Peyton Martin scored two possessions later underneath to give the Raiders an early 5-0 lead.

Around the five-minute mark, Forrest got their first point from Josh Doud to make it 5-2. Martin answered with a nothing-but-net three – reminding the Rockets that despite his size, he’s an inside out player.

Moore County then held the Rockets and in particular their big man, Dowd, who just couldn’t get inside for shots. Moore County held him to just four points in the first half – all in the first period.  He scored the final points of the first period with a reverse layup with around 30 seconds to play in the first.

Hill leads the second period with five

Brantley Hill got the second period scoring going with a jumper on the Raiders first possession. Forrest’s John Hightower answered with a deep, right-side trey to cut the Moore County lead to three, 10-7. Then, Martin answered with points inside. After trading turnovers, the Rockets Jean Astolfi swished a three to pull Forrest back within two points, 12-10.

Moore County then went on a seven-point run. Hill answered with his own three, and then Jay Sparkman swished a long jumper to build the Raider lead to five with 3:44 to play in the half. Following a Rocket turnover, Deacon Liles came off the bench and added two more.

The Rockets Hightower scored with a short-range jumper then Andrew Myers swished a jumper for Forrest’s last points of the first half. Gavin Wise got free for a lefthand layup to end the first half scoring. Moore County went into the locker room up by seven points, 21-14.

Martin led in the first half with seven points followed by Hill with five.

Rockets tie the game with six seconds to play

Forrest battled back in the third period – outscoring Moore County by one. Martin played as the workhorse of the third period with six inside points. Sparkman added a trey and Tucker Smith swished one from the line.

The third period ended with Moore County leading Forrest, 31-25.

After trading baskets for the first five minutes of the final stanza, Forrest’s Matthew Yeager hit a left side jumper to pull the Rockets within one with 3:35 to play – prompting a quick time out from Coach Brown.

Morey hit a trey from the left perimeter to give Moore County a 36-32 lead with a little over two minutes to play, then Forrest intercepted a bad Moore County pass to earn the turnover. Dowd made them pay for it with a spin-move layup to make it 36 -34 with 42 seconds to play. Ten seconds later, Alex Evans stole a Raider pass setting up Dowd for the game-tying layup with just six seconds to play.

Coach Brown quickly called time out with just 3.8 seconds to play. With the clock running, Wise inbounded to Hill who threw a laser strike pass to Morey. With a little over a second to play and into double coverage, Morey drained the buzzer beater trey to win the game as his teammates rushed the court to congratulate him.

Peyton Martin led for Moore County with 13 points. The unassuming post player owned the lane for most of the game while keeping the Forrest defense honest with the threat of perimeter shots. He scored 10 underneath and swished an early first period trey.

Colton Morey followed with nine points including the game-winning, buzzer-beater trey with less than 3.8 seconds to play. Other contributing Raiders were Brantley Hill (5), Jay Sparkman (5), Gavin Wise (2), Tristen Gray (2), Deacon Liles (2), and Tucker Smith (1).

Moore County will move on to District 9 play with their district opener against Eagleville (13-2) on Thursday in Rutherford County. That game was originally scheduled for Friday but officials moved it up due to the threat of snow and ice on Friday. Girls action will tip off at 6 p.m. and the Raiders game will follow. •

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