Forest Hills cruises into second round with 30-point win

MARSHVILLE — Forest Hills High started another postseason journey in hopes of their first perfect season ever with a lopsided 79-49 home win over the Pisgah Bears in the first round of the 2A boys basketball playoffs on Tuesday night.

The Yellow Jackets improved to 26-0 overall.

"I thought our guys did a very good job," said FH coach Matt Sides. "We knew we were going to be quicker than Pisgah and played a little more of a faster style of game. We wanted to speed up a little bit, force them to play faster and force some turnovers… I thought the ball pinged around; we shared it, we weren't selfish and I was proud of that."

Forest Hills took control in the first quarter, jumping out to 29-10 lead. Senior forward Alec Topper led the Yellow Jackets with 21 points and junior guard Mashad Hester contributed 14 points.

Forest Hills took a 47-16 lead into the break.

"We were locked in from the start," Topper said. "Our point guard, Jalen Huntley, he was pressing and (Pisgah) couldn't keep him out of there and Mashad played a great game. They made great decisions and we're on to the next round."

The Yellow Jackets will host the Salisbury Hornets in the second round of the 2A state playoffs on Thursday. Salisbury easily handled Smoky Mountain, 64-34, in their first-round game.

"We expect a position-by-position battle on Thursday night," Sides said. "It's going to be tough and we'll have to play our best."

Forest Hills 79, Pisgah 49

Forest Hills 29 18 19 13 — 79

Pisgah 10 6 20 13 — 49

Individual Scoring

Points: Forest Hills — Topper 21, Hester 14, Huntley 10, Tyveon Burch 9, Brandon Barrier 6, Dillon Wright 6, Ahmahd Stafford 3, Weston Pollock 2, Thomas Morris 2, Dylan Horne 2, Jakaree Byrams 2, Zack Barbour 2

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