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Davis delivers in closing seconds as Champs hold off Rockets

By CHRIS SIERS ~ sports@t-g.com
Posted 2/13/23

CHAPEL HILL — Time and time again, when Champion coach Chris Lawson needed big point production or a key play, it’s been one of the senior leaders on the team that has delivered. When the …

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Davis delivers in closing seconds as Champs hold off Rockets

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CHAPEL HILL — Time and time again, when Champion coach Chris Lawson needed big point production or a key play, it’s been one of the senior leaders on the team that has delivered.
When the shots weren’t falling on Friday night at Forrest, it was another couple of key plays by a senior that helped secure the 39-36 win in the regular season finale.
“When we had to have something, it was one of our seniors—Jackson Davis who came up with a steal and it was Jackson Davis who came up with a big rebound. At the end of the game, that put us over the top,” Lawson said.
It was a titanic struggle for both teams shooting, but both teams found ways to put themselves in position to win.
In a back-and-forth fourth quarter, the two squads swapped control of the scoreboard six times until Isaac McElroy hit a basket with 1:09 left in regulation to give Cascade a 37-36 lead.
While McElroy’s shot put Cascade (23-5, 6-0) ahead, Forrest (3-21, 2-4) charged down the floor and it was Davis who came through with a key steal and ensuing layup to make it a three-point game with 50 seconds left.
Forrest took the following possession and launched what would have been a game-tying three-pointer with nine ticks left.
Again, it was Davis who hauled in the rebound, drew the foul and headed to the line for a one-and-one attempt.
After missing the front end, Forrest again charged the floor and fired off another three-pointer that caught the iron.
This time, Forrest got its own rebound and senior Davin Porter banked in a three-pointer, but after the buzzer sounded, which allowed Cascade to escape with the win and finish the unbeaten run through the district schedule.
“We didn’t play our best and Forrest didn’t necessarily play their best either. It was a shooting display we don’t want to see very often. Both ways—nobody shot it well tonight,” Lawson said.
“We were 8-for-16 from the foul line and we threw the ball away a little bit. But at the end of the game, the big thing was we found a way to get it done. Nobody is going to remember the way they almost got beat. They’re going to remember we found a way to get it done.”
Even with the struggles shooting, senior Lucas Clanton still scrapped together 16 points to lead all scorers.
Davis went on to finish with nine points.
Porter led the Rockets with 13 points.
Friday night’s game capped a busy week for the Champions, which included a win over Grundy County and a close loss to non-district opponent Franklin County.
The win also secured No. 1 for Cascade in the District 7-AA tournament, which begins this week.
Getting a full week off to prepare for the postseason comes at a good time for Cascade, according to Lawson.
“Having a little time off here will be good for us. we’ll get our legs under us a little bit and we’ll get back to practice and work on a few things to get ready to play in the tournament,” he said.
Cascade will face No. 4 seed Community at Forrest at 7:30 on Friday evening.

Cascade 11 8 10 10 — 39
Forrest 8 13 7 8 — 36

Cascade: Lucas Clanton 16, Saebyn Burris 9, Isaac McElroy 6, Jackson Davis 5, Jayden Gulick 3.
Forrest: Davin Porter 13, Ben Villazon 8, Jimmy Bond 5, Mason Harper 4, Ryan Meglis 4, Bray McCown 2.
3-Point goals: Cascade (1): Clanton.
Halftime score: Forrest 21, Cascade 19.