BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. – The Cascade Lady Champions (14-13, 4-4) kept their season alive with relative ease on Friday night, handily taking down the visiting Lewis County Lady Panthers (9-17, 4-4), 57-35, in the Region 5-AA Quarterfinal for the second-consecutive season.

Cascade jumped out to a 15-point lead, 18-3, at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. Following the District 9-AA Championship Game loss, the Lady Champions came out with the right mindset, taking out whatever frustrations left from that game on the Lady Panthers early and often. 

Kaegan Young finished the game leading all scorers with an efficient 23 points on 9-15 shooting, and easily could have ended the night with 30 points. Cascade shot just 2-14 from downtown, but they routinely got whatever shot they wanted around the basket. The Lady Champs were dialed in defensively, swiping 15 steals amid forcing 27 Lady Panther turnovers, leading to a 28-3 advantage in points off turnovers and an 18-2 advantage in transition points. 

Sophie Ray was the other Lady Champion to finish in double-figures with 10 points while freshman sensation Lizzie Keele scored eight points. Senior Laina Carter and Caroline Parker led the way defensively with five and four steals, respectively.

For Lewis County, Jazalyn Conner was the team-leader with 12 points on the night, and was the only Lady Panther to reach double-digits.

After Cascade took the early 18-3 lead sparked by turning to their full-court press, the Lady Champs continued to clamp down, taking a 30-10 lead into the halftime locker room after outscoring Lewis County, 12-7, in the second quarter. 

Coming out for the second half, Janie Demonbreum’s Lady Champions put their foot down, outscoring the Lady Panthers 22-10 as their lead swelled to 32 points to take a 52-20 lead going into the final frame of play. 

Demonbreum liberally emptied her bench in the fourth quarter which allowed Lewis County to outscore Cascade, 15-5, to trim down the final margin a tad, but the result was never in doubt. Cascade’s final margin of victory was 22 points, 57-35, and the Lady Champions advanced to their second-consecutive Region Semifinal for the first time since 2012-2014. 

Lewis County’s season ends at 9-17.

Cascade advances to the Region 5-AA Semifinal on Monday in Bell Buckle and will take on District 10 Champions, Summertown, in a rematch from November 26th, LIVE on The Zinger 100.9 and AM 1400 starting at roughly 7:30 p.m.