BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. – The Cascade Champions stayed within reach of the defending District 9-AA Champs, the Cannon County Lions, on Tuesday night, but ultimately fell by 16 points in their district opener at The Stable, 66-50.

Cascade came into the game allowing just 48.9 points-per-game on average this season, but the high-octane Lions’ attack found their groove in the second half, outscoring the Champs by nine, 35-26, to come away with the win. 

Tyler Barrett was Cascade’s leading scorer, putting in a season-high 16 points and connecting on four three-pointers. Kaleb Kelso was held without a made triple on the night, finishing with 12 points overall while Jason Cullum chipped in with 10 points, nine of them coming in the first half.

For Cannon County, Antonio Jones scored 16 of his game-high 21 points in the first half to lead the way early on until three of his teammates reached double-figures in the second half. Eli Pelham, freshman sensation Miles Alexander, and Lukas Phillips finished with 13 points, 13 points, and 12 points, respectively. Pelham scored nine in the second half, Alexander put in eight, and Phillips had 10 to balance out the visitors’ offensive attack in the final two quarters.

The Lions’ defense was the real star of the show, holding Cascade to just four points in the opening period as Cannon County jumped out to a 14-4 lead after the first quarter. Cullum was relegated to the bench about halfway through the quarter for Cascade after picking up his second foul, keeping the Champs from establishing any consistency on the offensive end in the opening eight minutes. 

In the second quarter, Cascade outscored Cannon County, 20-17, after Tyler Barrett connected on a 30-footer at the buzzer for his second three-pointer of the first half, seemingly giving the Champs momentum going into the halftime locker room.

Whatever momentum Cascade might have had coming out of the second quarter quickly went away to start the third quarter as Cannon County outscored the hosts, 22-12, to take a commanding 53-36 lead going into the final frame. The Lions’ 2-2-1 full court press and relentless helter-skelter playstyle never let Cascade get comfortable on either end, and it showed in the Champs’ outside shooting.

Kaleb Kelso (5) floats to the basket for two of his 12 points against Cannon County.

After Kelso’s extremely efficient outing last time out against Murfreesboro Central Magnet where he finished 10/11 from the field and 4/4 from downtown, the Lions’ kept Kelso from connecting on a single outside shot all night long. 

Cascade went down by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter before Barrett connected on a couple of field goals to make the final score a more respectable 16-point game, 66-50.

Cannon County improves to 13-6 (2-0).

Cascade falls to 8-7 (0-1). The Champs are tentatively scheduled, as of this print, to travel to Grundy County on Monday night before hitting the road once more on Tuesday to take on Moore County, LIVE on The Zinger 100.9 starting at 5:45 p.m.