When the Logan-Rogersville Wildcats bring the energy, they can reach a different level.
And when 6’5” freshman forward Titus Moore is draining every perimeter shot in sight, the results can be downright devastating.
Both aspects were on display Friday night, as Logan-Rogersville drilled Forsyth 71-34 in the Class 4 District 11 Tournament championship game.
“We can guard. We’ve guarded well all year,” said Logan-Rogersville coach John Schaefer. “When their energy is good, it’s another notch. When they’re flying around like that, it’s a good sign.”
Moore had the best game of his young career, finishing with a game-high 22 points on five 3-pointers. All five treys occurred in the first quarter.
“I was just playing to the rhythm of the game,” Moore said. “My teammates were finding me and giving me momentum to keep going, keep pushing. I work on that shot, so I hope it goes in every time.”
Before Friday night, the most 3-pointers Moore had made in a game this season was two. He didn’t make his first varsity 3-pointer until January.
“Not for lack of shooting or trying,” Schaefer said. “Every day in practice, he was making (3s). It was more of a head thing. He can really shoot the basketball. I was surprised as well. You could tell it was going to be a problem for (Forsyth). He was going to be a problem anyway, with how they were going to guard us. I just didn’t think it was going to be from 3.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Said Moore: “I’ve just been in the gym a lot and doing countless reps.”
Forsyth (20-8 overall) could not recover from the early onslaught. Logan-Rogersville led 29-6 after the first quarter and 44-16 by halftime.
The Wildcats entered Friday’s contest allowing about 40 points per game.
“We have a real bad problem of looking up at the scoreboard and going, ‘Eh, we’ll do it,” Schaefer said. “Tonight, they wanted to play. Marcus (Moore) was really good defensively. Our senior guys, too, played really hard. The effort was great.”
Sophomore Chase Branham added 17 points and senior Jase Pettifurd scored 11 for the Wildcats.
The victory gives Logan-Rogersville (25-3 overall, No. 2 in Class 4 MBCA state poll) its third straight district title.
“I loved the energy of it and the big crowd we had,” Titus Moore said. “I was enjoying every single moment and having a blast with the seniors and everything.”
The Wildcats are approaching a decade of district dominance. They’ve now won districts seven times in the last eight seasons.
“It’s one of our goals every year. It’s been a mainstay,” Schaefer said of winning districts. “It’s ‘Pass the torch.’ They look at what the last group did, and they’re still trying to out-do them. It’s a competition, and we love it. Whatever that culture is that we’re creating, we want it to stay right there.”
Logan-Rogersville will host former Big 8 foe Aurora in the Class 4 sectional round Monday night, March 10.
The Wildcats are two wins away from a second straight trip to the final four. Schaefer said this year’s team has something in common with last year’s team: a freshman progressing rapidly during the stretch run of the season.
“(Titus) is not your typical freshman,” Schaefer said. “He’s continued to get better non-stop, which is big. Especially this time of year. It’s kind of like what Chase (Branham) did last year. Chase just kept getting better. (Titus) is right on the heels of doing kind of what we watched last year when (Chase) just morphed into a better player.”
Chris Halbrook led Forsyth with 11 points. The Panthers reached the 20-win mark for the second time in three seasons and will graduate five seniors.
Logan-Rogersville 71, Forsyth 34
Forsyth 6 10 13 5 — 34
Logan-Rogersville 29 15 21 6 — 71
Forsyth (20-8 overall) – Chris Halbrook 11, Tyler Strahan 9, Tanner Baird 8, Jerrett Walls 2, Griff Coen 2, TaMarkus Holmes 2
Logan-Rogersville (25-3 overall) – Titus Moore 22, Chase Branham 17, Jase Pettifurd 11, Marcus Moore 9, Sutton Shook 6, Dane Smith 6
