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Lady Champs rally too late

By CHRIS SIERS ~ sports@t-g.com
Posted 11/19/20

NOLENSVILLE — Cascade coach Kendall Hampton was like every new coach in the state prior to her team's first game—she just didn't know quite what to expect since play days and scrimmages were canceled due to COVID-19. What she learned in Tuesday night's season opener was her team has a lot of fight—even when the chips were down...

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Lady Champs rally too late

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NOLENSVILLE — Cascade coach Kendall Hampton was like every new coach in the state prior to her team's first game—she just didn't know quite what to expect since play days and scrimmages were canceled due to COVID-19.

What she learned in Tuesday night's season opener was her team has a lot of fight—even when the chips were down.

The Lady Champions trailed Nolensville by 19 points after the third quarter, but cut the Lady Knights lead to just eight at one point in the fourth quarter.

Even with that rally, Nolensville was able to escape the comeback bid by Cascade for the 48-33 victory.

“They have a lot of fight in them. They didn't quit. They played harder in the second half than they did one minute in the first half. I think once they started getting some turnovers, they realized we can compete, and that's when things started to change,” Lady Champion coach Kendall Hampton said.

Offense was a struggle through the first half as Cascade managed just eight points between the opening 16 minutes.

Even with the struggles in the half court, Cascade held Nolensville to a very manageable 19 points at the half.

Last season, Cascade lost a key piece of the puzzle in Jordan Green, who Hampton believes can be a key contributor in the paint.

“We need to work on our entry passes into our post. Jordan was out last year with an ACL tear and I think that was part of it,” Hampton said.

“They aren't used to having a presence inside that can score and she definitely can. We have to be able to get her the ball. There were some openings in the paint we didn't see initially.”

Nolensville stretched its lead to 19 points after the third quarter, but didn't have an answer for the Lady Champions once they began forcing turnovers early in the fourth quarter and connecting from the perimeter.

“We were moving the ball more, hustling more and that energy creates those breakdowns in their defense, which creates the open shots,” Hampton said.

Senior Maddie Crosslin connected on a pair of fourth-quarter treys that helped spur on a 15-4 run to start the quarter.

“I think it took them a minute to realize they can compete. Once they figured that out—it was on. At one point, we cut it to eight and in that moment, we put up two shots and missed, and if they didn't hit their foul shots, we're looking at a closer game,” Hampton said.

Crosslin led the Lady Champs with 14 points, while Abby Littrell added 10 points off the bench.

Nolensville's Caymin Ladd and Zoe Piller combined for 44 points to lead the Lady Knights.

Tuesday night's Hall of Fame game was essentially the first dress rehearsal for either team and was a chance for Hampton to gauge her team's ability on the court.

“Everybody is in this boat—not having scrimmages and play dates puts the players in a position where they don't know what they're capable of, especially with a new coach,” she said.

The biggest thing Hampton took away from her first game as the Lady Champs' head coach is knowing she has a team that is full of fight and will battle to the final buzzer.

“I couldn't be more proud of how they ended the game,” she said.

Cascade will begin its home slate on Friday night, hosting the Webb School at 6 p.m.

Cascade 2 6 7 18 — 33

Nolensville 8 11 15 14 — 48

Cascade: Maddie Crosslin 14, Abby Littrell 10, Jordan Green 3, MaKenna Lamb 2, Caroline McKamey 2, Caroline Stone.

Nolensville: Caymin Ladd 23, Zoe Piller 21, JR Moyer, Sara Grubesic.

3-Point goals: Cascade (6): Crosslin 4, Littrell 2; Nolensville; Nolensville (4): Ladd 3 , Moyer.

Halftime score: Nolensville 19, Cascade 8.