BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. – The Cascade Lady Champions opened District 9-AA play against the Cannon County Lionettes on Tuesday night, but in the end a furious fourth quarter rally came up just short as the Lady Champs fell by six, 50-44.
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BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. – The Cascade Lady Champions opened District 9-AA play against the Cannon County Lionettes on Tuesday night, but in the end a furious fourth quarter rally came up just short as the Lady Champs fell by six, 50-44.
Cascade trailed by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter before a surprise comeback attempt cut the Cannon County lead to 44-43 with 1:08 to go after Lizzie Keele split a pair of free throws, but the Lionettes’ championship mettle came through in the final minute, ending the game on a 6-1 mini-run to pick up their second win in district play.
Both teams struggled on the offensive end as Cascade shot 28% from the field while Cannon County connected on just 35% of their field goal attempts.
Kaegan Young, Cascade’s leading scorer on the season, was saddled with foul trouble for the entirety of the second half, and she eventually fouled out with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter with Cascade trailing by just six points, 43-37. However, Sophie Ray stepped up on the offensive end, finishing with a game-high 16 points and helping spark a 6-1 mini-run for Cascade over the next 1:12 to cut the lead to one point. Lizzie Keele finished as the only other Lady Champion in double-figures with 11 points while Caroline Parker chipped in with nine points. Young finished with eight points of her own, but due to foul trouble she only got up seven shot attempts.
In the end, Lionette's star point guard, Abi Alexander, led all scorers with 19 points, but Cascade made her take 20 shots to reach that mark, giving themselves the opportunity for a comeback late. Alexander was the only Lionette to reach double-digits on the night.
The opening period saw Cascade connect on three of their five total three-pointers to stay within reach of Cannon County, who took a 17-14 lead into the second quarter. Keele was responsible for two of the triples, hitting both of her attempts in the corner to keep pace with the visitors. Cannon County only hit four three-pointers in the game themselves, but two of them came in the first quarter from Alexander.
In the second quarter, both defenses began to really take a stranglehold on the game. Cascade outscored Cannon County, 7-6, and trailed by just two points, 23-21, going into the halftime locker room. However, Kaegan Young picked up her third foul just before the break which would prove vital later on.
Coming out of the halftime break, Cannon County opened the second half on an 8-0 run to take their largest lead of the night up to that point, 31-21. Cascade struggled to find an offensive rhythm as the length of Liv Prater down low gave Sophie Ray problems around the basket. The Lady Champs only connected on one field goal – a three-pointer – and committed six of their 10 turnovers in the third quarter alone. Cannon County outscored Cascade, 14-6, to take a 37-27 lead into the fourth quarter, and after Young picked up her fourth foul, the Lionettes looked to be in total control.
In the final frame, Cascade trailed by as many as 12 points, 41-29, before the Lady Champs finally started to connect on the offensive end. Cascade responded with a 13-3 run to cut the lead to 44-43 with 1:08 to play, but after Keele missed the second free throw, Cannon County responded with an extended offensive possession that ended in a layup. On the ensuing possession, Janie Demonbreum drew up a play to get Caroline Parker an open corner-three to try and tie the game, but Parker’s attempt veered off left, allowing Cannon County to grab the rebound, get fouled and effectively put the game away.
Cannon County improves to 10-4 (2-0).
Cascade falls to 6-7 (0-1). The Lady Champs are tentatively scheduled, as of this print, to travel to Grundy County on Monday night before hitting the road once more on Tuesday to take on Moore County, LIVE on The Zinger 100.9 starting at 5:45 p.m.