AUGUSTA — Undefeated Forest Hills opened its tournament in style Saturday.
The top-seeded Tigers scored the first 15 points and never looked back, cruising to a 85-33 win over No. 8 Seacoast Christian in a Class D South quarterfinal at the Augusta Civic Center. Forest Hills (19-0) will meet No. 5 Greenville on Wednesday afternoon.
The Guardians finished 3-16.
Forest Hills had a little extra motivation, because Seacoast Christian knocked the Tigers out of the playoffs last season with a 78-67 win in the quarterfinals.
“You’ve got to remember, we haven’t won (in Augusta) in a couple of years,” said Forest Hills Coach Anthony Amero. “This group has had tough luck with injuries and different things. Today’s focus was just Game 1. One game a time, we’re not taking anything for granted, Because we’ve been through that too many times … (Last year’s result), I think, helped with the motivation, and they just came out ready to play.”
Forest Hills made 10 3-pointers. By the end of the first quarter, the Tigers led 22-2.
“We take a lot of pride in 3-pointers,” senior forward Brandon Gilboe said. “We shoot more, and it just goes in.”
The lead swelled to 48-16 by halftime, thanks in large part to senior forward Jakob Rivas, who slashed his way through the Seacoast Christian defense to score 13 of his 17 points in the first half.
“We were focusing in, trying not to reach (and commit fouls defensively),” Gilboe said. “Seacoast played their game, they played us hard. They took it to us, and we got into foul trouble. … (Coach was) saying ‘Don’t reach, don’t reach, focus on (not committing fouls),’ and off we went.”
The Tigers went on another 15-0 run in the third quarter. Gilboe scored 10 of his 18 points in the second half.
“He comes from a long line of good Gilboe players,” Amero said. “They’ve all had good luck (in Augusta), a good tournament here. We’re excited for him in his senior year. He’s fired up and laying it all out there. He’s a really good kid and he’s worked hard to get (here).”
Mason Desjardins came off the bench to hit three 3-pointers. He finished with 11 points. Parker Desjardins had 17 points, while Hunter Cuddy added 14.
Kobe Jex led Seacoast Christian with nine points, while Brandon Vachon added eight.
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