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The Westwood Rockets were looking to capture the World Tournament Championship at Forrest School, but ultimately fell short of their goal.

On Monday, The Rockets opened their tournament with a win against the Cascade Champions, 42-23.

Scoring for the Rockets were Mason Troxler with 12 points, Isaiah Buchanan with eight points, Brady Christian and Caleb Hill each with six points, and Kaden Ingle and Zeke Jones each with five points.

On Tuesday, in the semi-final round, the Rockets were pitted against the Community Vikings.

The Rockets dominated the game right from the opening tip, holding the Vikings to a measly two points in the first half, leading 16-2, before finishing off the Vikings, 37-14

Scoring for the Rockets were Mason Troxler with 15, Zeke Jones with eight, Isaiah Buchanan with six, Cooper Hinson with three, Caleb Hill and Kingsley Miller each with two, and Caleb Hill with one.

The Rockets’ third game in a span of four days would be their toughest test, as they would face the Lewisburg Tigers in the championship game on Thursday night.

The first quarter would not be the start the Rockets wanted, as they fell behind, 8-3.

However, Westwood came storming back in the second, going on an 11-0 run through the first four minutes of the quarter, and led the Tigers at the half, 16-12.

The Tigers would come roaring back in the third to lead 25-24 heading into the fourth.

The lead would change hands a few times in the final frame, but with less than two minutes left, the Rockets were called for a foul.

Afterwards, Zeke Jones was given a technical foul for allegedly saying something to the referees.

After everything settled, the Tigers would shoot four free throws, but only make one, which would end up being the difference in the ball game.

As the game would wind down, the Tigers took control, and led by four points with 19 seconds left.

The Rockets would attempt to come back, as Mason Troxler would hit a layup, after a missed Zeke Jones three, to cut the lead to two with nine seconds to go.

The Rockets quickly fouled the Tigers, who would make one free throw to go up by three points.

The Rockets brought the ball back down, but couldn’t get open for a three-point attempt, and instead settled for another Troxler layup, resulting in a 36-35 loss.

“It’s just the way it falls sometimes…” said Westwood coach Anita Gannon, “…but this is a good momentum builder to help us work harder and come back stronger.”

Scoring for the Rockets were Mason Troxler with 19, Kaden Ingle with six, Zeke Jones with five, Caleb Hill with three, and Isaiah Buchanan with two.

Placing third in the World Tournament were the Community Vikings, after a 25-24 win over the host team, Forrest Rockets.

The Rockets played Coffee Middle Monday evening at CCCHS after the press deadline.  Coverage can be found on manchestertimes.com.  Westwood will return home to play the Forrest Rockets on Thursday, October 26th, and the Liberty Patriots on Monday, October 30th.