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Davis, Gentry lead Champs in district opener

By WILL CARTER ~ Sports Writer
Posted 1/9/23

BELL BUCKLE — With huge opening and closing quarters, the Cascade Champions were able to secure a 70-47 victory over the Community Vikings to open district play as Jackson Davis and Thomas …

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Davis, Gentry lead Champs in district opener

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BELL BUCKLE — With huge opening and closing quarters, the Cascade Champions were able to secure a 70-47 victory over the Community Vikings to open district play as Jackson Davis and Thomas Gentry combined for 39 points to lead the way. 
The Champions (13-4, 1-0) and head coach Chris Lawson go into every game with the mindset of holding the opposition to under 55 points and they did it again against the Vikings. 
“Overall it was a solid effort,” Lawson said. “Anytime we can hold a team to under 50 points, that’s a huge positive for us. We want to do that every game.”
“I told them before the game that nothing matters up until this point. It was a chance to go 1-0 in the district and we did that.”
Cascade got off to a hot start offensively by knocking down three shots from behind the arc in the first frame. 
Davis accounted for two of those for a total of seven points in the quarter. 
But the majority of their points came from inside the paint as Saebyn Burris and Sawyer Lovvorn were able to secure offensive rebounds and get second chance points.
The Community Vikings couldn’t find much success on the offensive end until the second quarter when they turned up the heat defensively with full-court pressure. 
They were able to force some turnovers and get stops which led to fouls and free throws on the offensive end. 
Nine of the Vikings 19 first half points came from the free throw line. 
Despite the push from Community in the second frame, Cascade carried a 31-19 lead into the halftime break. 
“We got in a little bit of foul trouble in the second quarter,” Lawson said.
“We got up to almost 20 and got a little stagnant at times. We have to do a better job of finishing possessions when we have a good lead.”
The third quarter was a tight-knit affair throughout, but the Champions were able to narrowly win the quarter behind Davis’ 10 points. 
He accounted for all but two of Cascade’s third quarter points. 
“They took Lucas Clanton away with how they were playing defense, so some other guys had to step up,” Lawson said. “Credit to Jackson Davis and Thomas Gentry for stepping up again on the offensive end.”
Clanton has been Cascade’s leading scorer for the majority of their games, but the Vikings came in with a structured game plan to limit his production and they were able to hold him scoreless until the second half and to a total of six points on the night. 
Despite the pressure from Community throughout the contest, the Champions were able to find another gear in the final frame as they notched 27 points to close out the game. 
Davis and Gentry combined for 13 points in the quarter.
“We just outlasted them to close out the game,” Lawson said. “We pressured the ball a little bit to make them make quick decisions, and we got good shots and got to the free throw line a good bit.”
Community had their best quarter to close out the game as well as they notched 17 total points in the quarter behind Cole Crockett’s 9 points. 
Crockett totaled 13 on the night for a team high. 
Both squads will be back in action on Tuesday night with the Champions traveling to Eagleville and the Vikings hosting Cannon County. 

Community 8 11 11 17 — 47
Cascade 21 10 12 27 — 70

Community: Cole Crockett 13, Austin Stickler 10, Jason Cullen 8, Landon Lovvorn 6, Jacob Flannagan 6, Moe Berman 2, Romone Hernandez 2. 
Cascade: Jackson Davis 23, Thomas Gentry 16, Saebyn Burris 7, Lucas Clanton 6, Jayden Gulick 5, Sawyer Lovvorn 5, Zach Crosslin 4, Isaac McElroy 4.
3-point goals: Cascade (7): Davis 3, Gentry 2, Clanton, Gulick.; Community (1): Crockett. 
Halftime score: Cascade 31, Community 19