Log in Subscribe

Champs punch ticket to 7-AA championship

By CHRIS SIERS ~ sports@t-g.com
Posted 2/16/22

UNIONVILLE — Last season, the Cascade Champions went on a tear through the month of January and locked up the No. 1 seed in the District 8-A tournament, but suffered a semifinal loss to …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Champs punch ticket to 7-AA championship

Posted

UNIONVILLE — Last season, the Cascade Champions went on a tear through the month of January and locked up the No. 1 seed in the District 8-A tournament, but suffered a semifinal loss to Fayetteville City.
With the goal of winning a district title within reach again, the Champs left no doubts on the floor and took care of business against Grundy County (14-12) in the District 7-AA semifinals on Tuesday night.
Cascade (21-7) got big production from junior Lucas Clanton and senior Justis Carter in the 65-46 win over the Yellow Jackets.
Grundy County jumped out to the early lead and after leading 8-4 with 6:07 left in the first, Cascade rattled off 10-straight points and by the end of the first quarter, led 20-12.
While the Champs exerted their will on the Yellow Jackets in the opening quarter, the offensive production was a struggle in the second quarter as Cascade was only able to muster up seven points.
Grundy County knocked down a pair of timely 3-pointers by Gavin Hobbs, which helped the Yellow Jackets cut Cascade’s lead to three points by halftime.
Cascade answered with a 23-point effort in the third quarter.
When Cascade was at its best, the Champions were able to force several Yellow Jacket turnovers and push the ball in transition to help break the game open.
“We talked about halftime how we had gotten kind of sluggish. We were a little bit tight. We had a couple of shots that didn’t fall. We wanted to push it in transition a little bit more. Eventually we kind of got that going,” Cascade coach Chris Lawson said.
While Cascade was able to pick up some key baskets off Grundy County turnovers, it was the support staff that shined in the third quarter.
Carter picked up his third foul early in the third quarter, prompting Lawson to turn to the deep Champion bench.
With the senior Champion big man battling foul trouble, it was Saebyn Burris who gave Cascade big minutes in the paint and Chance Brown who came through with some key baskets in the third quarter to help the Champs extend their lead.
“Chance Brown was huge for us tonight. Saebyn Burris was huge for us tonight. Lucas (Clanton) got hot and had a pretty good night. He and Justis give us what they typically give us, but to have those other guys step in, that’s the difference,” Lawson said.
With Burris and Brown were able to give the Champs big minutes, it was Clanton who was shooting lights out in the second half.
He scored a game-high 23 points and hit five second-half 3-pointers.
With Cascade pulling away in the second half, Grundy’s key source of offense came from Austin Higgins, who pitched in a team-best 19 points.
Aside from Higgins, Grundy struggled to find support from the rest of the lineup.
“Our focus was on a couple other guys for them. We didn’t really try to focus on him (Higgins) as much. So he made a couple of shots, but we also talked about sticking with the game plan and it worked out,” Lawson said.
Carter went on to finish the game with 14 points, while Burris and Brown added eight and seven, respectively.
With the ghosts of the 2021 district tournament semifinals exorcised, Cascade’s focus now shifts to the district championship game against Community on Saturday night.
For the first time since 2013, Cascade will face the Vikings in the postseason, with Community winning the two previous tournament meetings.
In two regular season games this season, the two Bedford County titans split games, with the Vikings winning a January 20 meeting on a last-second shot, while Cascade took care of business eight days later in a 44-32 win.
“We want to win a district championship. We’ve worked all year to get to this point. It will be a competitive and tough game,” Lawson said.
Tip-off is set for 7:45 on Saturday evening in Unionville.

Grundy Co. 12 12 9 13 — 46
Cascade 20 7 23 15 — 65

Grundy Co.: Austin Higgins 19, Gavin Hobbs 14, Jathan Yokely 4, Sam Parsons 4, Garrett Dees, Isaac Campbell 2.
Cascade: Lucas Clanton 23, Justis Carter 14, Saebyn Burris 8, Chance Brown 7, Thomas Gentry 7, Jackson Davis 6.
3-Point goals: Cascade (7): Clanton 5, Brown, Gentry; Grundy Co. (5): Hobbs 3, Dees, Parsons.
Halftime score: Cascade 27, Grundy Co. 24.