23 in a row! Forrest County AHS notches another win, beating Lawrence County for Region 7 title

BROOKLYN – The Aggie Express just keeps rolling down the road, carrying with it championship aspirations in Class 4A.

Forrest County AHS, the state’s fourth-ranked team in the SB Live 4A rankings, used a sizzling second half to pull away from Lawrence County 50-43 in the boys championship game of the Region 7-4A Tournament at Ellis Shoemake Gymnasium.

FCAHS (24-2) won its 23 consecutive game and will host Mendenhall at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the opening round of the MHSAA Class 4A State Tournament. Lawrence County (17-10) will host Northeast Jones as the No. 2 seed from the region.

“We knew this was going to be a really tough challenge,” said Aggie head coach Scott Landry. “Lawrence County has a very good team, and their do a really good job. They are so hard to guard, because they play five guards about 90 percent of the time.

“You have to really be able to guard in space. We take pride in our defense, and I thought we did that tonight. Once we started getting stops, we were happy with the result.”

As was the case in both of the regular-season meetings between the two teams, both of which the Aggies won by six and 10 points, this game was hotly contested.

Forrest County established their eventual margin of victory in the first quarter, when the Aggies ripped off the first 10 points of the game before the Cougars got their first points on a three-point play by senior Trey Jones with 3:01 to play in the period.

As he has been all season, 6-foot-8 senior center Richard Frazier was the lynchpin for a suffocating defense that made life miserable for Lawrence County in the first quarter.

“Coach told me to play like I was the best defender in the state, to show everybody that I am one of the best defenders in the state,” said Frazier, who is headed for Pearl River Community College this fall.

“I had to show that tonight, guarding their best player (Jones) and the Offensive Player of the Year in our region.

Landry said the impressive thing about Frazier’s performance was defending against smaller, purportedly quicker players and denying them access to the basket.

“His offense is a work in progress, but he does such a good job, defensively, blocking shots, getting rebounds,” said Landry.

“He was (defending) against a guard tonight. There’s not too many 5s –. He’s legitimate 5 at 6-9 – and there’s not many centers in this state who can sit down in front of a guard for 32 minutes. I’m so proud of the way he has progressed.”

Offensively, the Aggies appeared a little stagnant at times in the first half, and they had trouble getting shots, especially in the second quarter. Every time Frazier got the ball in the low post, two, sometimes three, Cougars were there to harass him.

“I just had to make the right decisions with the ball down there,” said Frazier. “To find the open guy, I know they’re going to send two or three guys at me, and I just had to make the right play at the right moment.”

After leading 12-5 after the first quarter, FCAHS only took seven shots from the field and hit just two. Part of it was a deliberate strategy of taking the air out of the ball and running down the clock.

And it was effective, as the Cougars were unable to take advantage, hitting just 3 of 16 shots from the field in the second quarter, and Forrest County led 17-12 at halftime.

In the second half, it was senior guard David Cumbest Jr. who strapped the Aggies onto his back and carried them in the second half.

Cumbest let everyone in the packed gymnasium know just what FCAHS intended to do on its first possession of the third quarter, after getting a Cougar turnover. He drove right down the lane for a layup, signaling a more aggressive offensive approach.

“I told everybody (at halftime), let’s work; it’s time to work,” said Cumbest, another Aggie who is heading for PRCC. “It was just hard work.”

After a steal, Cumbest followed that with a drive down the baseline for a layup, got a pull-up jump shot in the lane from 8 feet, then got another baseline drive to cap an 8-0 run that put the Aggies ahead by double-digits again.

“A lot of people may not know it, but I think he’s one of the best guards in the state,” said Landry.

“He put us on his back tonight. We’re fortunate to have him. He can score, he can run the offense, he can defend, he can rebound – he’s our leading defensive rebounder – so I am excited to see what’s in store for him.”

Lawrence County hung in the game by improving its offense, as Jones came alive for 10 of his team-high 16 points in the third quarter. The Cougars converted 5 of 10 shots from the field, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range, in the period.

But the Aggies more than matched them, hitting 8 of 10 from the field, all but one of them from inside four feet from the basket, and held a 34-27 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

“It’s part of my game,” said Cumbest. “Coach calls the play and I run the offense. My teammates get me the ball in good spots to succeed.”

And the Cougars simply weren’t able to keep up the pace. Forrest County got to the rim at will throughout the second half, and that continued in the final period.

Frazier got a monster slam on a fast break after a steal, igniting a decisive 14-3 run that put the Aggies up 48-30 with two minutes to play.

FCAHS hit its first four shots of the fourth quarter, while Lawrence County missed its first six over the same period. And after leading the Cougars with 16 points, Jones was held scoreless in the fourth quarter.

Cumbest continued to lead the way, with a putback here, another baseline drive there, finishing with a game-high 24 points.

Junior Davion Sutton scored 14 points for Lawrence County, and they all came in the fourth quarter, powering the Cougars to a 13-2 run to close the game and narrow the final margin, but it was way too little, far too late.

Senior Josh McArthur added 10 points and Frazier had 9 for Forrest County.

For the senior-laden Aggies, the new season starts Tuesday, and they are confident of their chances of getting to Jackson for the MHSAA Final Four. Last year, FCAHS came up one game short of that goal.

“I feel like we have a real good chance,” said Frazier. “I think we’re on the good side of the bracket, again,” said Frazier. “But I think we have a better team than last year.

“We had some bad moments last year, but this year our coaches are doing a good job of helping us fight through adversity and get us ready to play.”

In the girls championship, Lawrence County bested Sumrall 46-42 behind 18 points from Kapresha Courtney.

The Cougars (16-12) host Mendenhall in the opening round of the playoffs on Monday. Sumrall (10-15) was led by Ella Robertson with a game-high 25 points on eight 3-point shots. The Bobcats host Northeast Jones on Monday.

In the consolation games, Columbia rolled over Purvis 48-29 in the girls game, and Sumrall defeated Columbia 75-62 for the third seed on the boys side.