One place the West Stanly men’s basketball program has struggled to win in recent years has been at long time Rocky River Conference opponent Forest Hills.

Friday night, the Colts ended the program’s nine-game losing slide on the road to the Jackets, rallying in the second half for a 70-63 win.

Matthew Parker led several in double figures for West (7-6, 2-1 RRC) with 16 points while Charlie Carpenter added 14. Jesse Boone and Camden Nahrgang added 10 each. J.T. Barbee and Jacob Lisk both just missed double figures with nine and eight points, respectively.

Jakaree Byrams led Forest Hills (6-9, 2-1) and all scorers with 23 points.

West had not beaten the Jackets on the road since earning a RRC tournament win over the Jackets Feb. 15, 2011.

The Colts trailed by as much as 10 points in the first half, fighting back to trail by five at halftime. West led by three after three quarters, but the lead changed hands several times in the fourth. The Colts got three defensive stops in the last minute and hit free throws to seal the win.

“I thought our preparation was really good the last couple of days,” West head coach John Thompson said. “We weren’t perfect, but we battled and showed a lot of guts down the stretch.

“J.T. gave us a huge lift tonight with three 3-pointers. He had a great week of practice and it paid off.”

Thompson also credited Boone, who recently recovered from injury, saying he “helps us move the ball on offense and communicates on defense. (He is) really a glue guy that a good team needs.”

West hosts North Stanly Monday in a non-conference match-up.