HAYS — A big second and third quarters, along with key plays late, allowed the Forbush girls basketball team to pick up a key 54-50 win over North Wilkes last Tuesday night.
Despite the Lady Vikings having already wrapped up the outright Foothills 2A Conference, the Lady Falcons had plenty to play for and, in the process, avenged an earlier loss to North Wilkes.
Forbush (19-6, 8-4 update) looked to be on the verge winning big as it took a 32-23 halftime and built the lead to as many as 16 (44-28) on a steal and layup from Meredith Tomko.
The freshman finished with 12 points.
But the Lady Vikings (19-5, 10-2) wasn’t about to go away quietly and chipped away at the deficit behind the play of Shalyn Bare and Olivia Rhodes.
Bare, a freshman, converted on a putback and the senior Rhodes knocked down 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to trim Forbush’s lead to nine after three quarter.
Bare culminated the 9-0 run with a basket to make it a 44-37 game early in the fourth.
After an Emily Eads triple, the Lady Vikings regained the momentum with 10-2 run to make it a one possession game with 1:40m to play after Abbie Myers’ 3-pointer.
The Lady Vikings had a chance to either tie or take the lead when it forced Forbush into turnovers on back-to-back possessions, but came up empty.
North Wilkes had one more chance in the final minute but Mallory Chapman put a stop to that as the junior intercepted a pass at midcourt, forcing the Lady Vikings to foul.
Natalie Scott led the Lady Falcons with 15 points but it was her last two free throws that made it a two-possession game with 45 seconds to play.
Katelyn Eads iced the game for the visitors as the junior knocked down 3-for-4 free throws down the stretch.
While the game swung in Forbush’s favor in the second half, the two teams were very even in the opening quarter — the game was tied six times and there six lead changes in the first eight minutes (seven in the first half).
Neither team led by more than three in the first quarter.
The Lady Falcons started the gain the upper hand as a Tomko runner pushed the lead to seven and triples from Morgan Pinnix and Scott pushed the lead to double digits at 30-19.
Tomko joined Scott in double figures with 12 points and Chapman chipped in for Forbush, which picked up a 68-25 over Wilkes Central on Friday night.
Against the Lady Eagles, Pinnix led a quartet of double-digit scorers with 14 points and Tomko added 13. Katelyn Eads and Chapman chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Allie Farrington paced the Lady Vikings with 16 points and Rhodes chipped in 15. Bare just missed out on double figures with nine points.
On the strength of a 77-54 win against West Wilkes on Monday night, the Lady Falcons squared off with North Wilkes on Tuesday evening in the semifinals of the Foothills 2A Conference Tournament.
The winner will play in the championship game on Friday night at North Wilkes.
Forbush 54, North Wilkes 50
Forbush 15 17 12 10 — 54
North Wilkes 15 8 12 15 — 50
FORBUSH: Meredith Tomko 12; Emily Eads 6; Katie Furno 2; Katelyn Eads 3; Mallory Chapman 9; Mariah Livingston 0; Carrie Vestal 2; Morgan Pinnix 5.
NORTH WILKES: Abbie Myers 3; Elizabeth Foster 0; Olivia Rhodes 15; Salem Adams 5; Savannah Johnson 0; Allie Farrington 16; Shalyn Bare 9.
THREE-POINTERS: Forbush: Scott 3, Tomko, Pinnix. North Wilkes: Myers
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