During the matchups last year between the Cascade Champions (5-2) and Fayetteville City Tigers (4-2), the final score was decided by one possession in three of the four meetings.
Going into Tuesday night’s clash against the Tigers, head Cascade coach Chris Lawson knew it would be a battle between two evenly matched teams.
But after leading for most of regulation, it was Fayetteville City who came up with a handful of plays in the fourth quarter to snap the Champions’ three-game win streak with a 65-63 final score.
“It’s pretty good, clean basketball and two competitive teams. It was the same thing again tonight. They were pretty good—athletic and skilled. They came in here and gave us really good game and came away with it in the end,” Lawson said.
With 2:26 left in the fourth, Lucas Clanton drilled a contested corner 3-pointer to put Cascade up 61-57. But after Clanton’s trey, Fayetteville answered with a basket by Braydon Hockett to pull within one point.
Cascade had a chance to answer after drawing a foul with 1:24 left, but a miss on the front end of a one-and-one set the Champs up with possession after a rebound.
A costly Cascade turnover gave the ball back to the Tigers and it was Camaurionn Taylor who converted with a basket to put Fayetteville up, 62-61, with 59 seconds left on the clock.
From there, Taylor was fouled and sent to the free throw line to put Fayetteville up, 63-61, with 31 seconds left.
Cascade answered on a pair of free throws made by Jackson Davis to knot the game at 63 apiece with 25 seconds remaining.
Needing a stop on the defensive end of the court, it was Fayetteville’s Bryson Johnson who came through in the clutch and hit the game-winning layup with one second left.
While the late-game drama tilted in favor of the Tigers, Cascade clung to a lead through most of the game, maintaining a 5-7 point margin through the bulk of regulation.
A key part of the Champions’ success came from their efforts off the glass and not allowing many second-chance opportunities for Fayetteville.
Cascade also did its share of work at the free throw line, making 13-of-20 attempts, including 7-of-9 tries in the first half.
Champion junior Lucas Clanton had the hot hand and led all scorers with 28 points, including four 3-pointers, but Fayetteville countered with big points from Isaiah Thomison and Johnson, who scored 21 and 15, respectively.
“We worked pretty hard on how we wanted to guard them, block out and rebound. The thing that hurt us was their big kid inside, Thomison, had 21 and No. 21 had 15—two guys that predominantly play around the rim. That’s kind of what hurt us,” Lawson said.
Johnson added 11 of his total 15 points in the second half, while Thomison chipped in 12.
For Cascade, big man Justis Carter hit double figures again with 14 points, however Lawson is still looking for a consistent scorer behind Carter and Clanton to help bolster the offense.
“Looking down here, Jackson Davis had eight, then it goes to to two, three, three, and five. Just not consistent. We have to have that consistency,” he said.
Cascade hopes to bounce back on its home court on Friday, hosting Watertown at 7:30 p.m.

Cascade 19  14  18  12 — 63
Fayetteville 16  12  18  19 — 65

Cascade: Lucas Clanton 28, Justis Carter 14, Jackson Davis 8, Isaac McElroy 5, Thomas Gentry 3, Zach Crosslin 3, Chance Brown 2.
Fayetteville: Isaiah Thomison 21, Bryson Johnson 15, Braydon Hockett 10, Camaurionn Taylor 7, Teondre Love 5, Aljarea Jonson 5, Corion Cash 2.  
3-Point goals: Cascade (6): Clanton 4, Gentry, McElroy; Fayetteville (5): Hockett 2, Love, Thomison, Johnson.
Halftime score: Cascade 33, Fayetteville 28.