HUNTLAND, TN – The Cascade Lady Champions outscored the Huntland Lady Hornets, 10-7, in overtime to win a sloppy slugfest, 45-42, in their first road game of the season.

Kaegan Young scored 12 of her 16 points after halftime, Laina Carter banked in a three-pointer for her first and only basket of the game to give Cascade the lead for good with just over a minute left to play, and the Lady Champs came up with 15 steals on defense to eke this one out and pick up their second win of the season in as many tries.

For the Lady Hornets, Marley Phillips connected on a trio of three-pointers as part of her team-high 10 second half points. Riley Maxwell scored Huntland’s first seven points of the game, but then didn’t score again as she was plagued with foul trouble before eventually fouling out in the fourth quarter. Cascade held Stratton Davis to a shocking 1/16 three-point shooting performance as she also finished with just seven points.

Freshman Lizzie Keele gave Cascade the lead late in the fourth quarter after splitting a pair of free throws, 35-34, before Maxwell traveled and turned the ball back over to the Lady Champs with 28 seconds left. After a timeout, Caroline Parker’s inbounds pass sailed over the head of Sophie Ray in the backcourt, giving Huntland another opportunity to take the lead. Instead, Phillips was fouled with 17 seconds left, but she could only connect on 1/2 free throws to tie the game at 35-35. After Kaegan Young’s three-point attempt at the buzzer from the top of the key came up short, the two teams got ready to play an extra four minutes to try and decide a winner. 

Lizzie Keele (11) split a pair of FTs to force OT at Huntland on Thursday.

In the extra period, the Lady Champs found themselves tied up at 39-39 until Carter’s three-pointer banked in from the right wing, reminiscent of Kaydence Miller’s game-winning three from the same spot a year ago at Huntland. Young gave Cascade their largest lead of the night at 44-39 after connecting on a pair of free throws with less than a minute to go, and that was just enough to hold Huntland off.

It was tightly contested throughout, and Huntland took a 9-7 lead at the end of the first quarter behind Maxwell’s seven points. The Lady Hornets aggressive defense seemed to throw Cascade off their game offensively, never letting the Lady Champs get into any rhythm. 

Cascade outscored Huntland 7-5 in the second quarter to tie the game up at 14-14 going into the halftime locker room. Caroline Parker led the way for Cascade with five points after connecting on the Lady Champs’ only three pointer of the first half.

Both offenses started to wake up in the third quarter with Cascade taking a 27-25 lead after outscoring Huntland 13-11 in the period. 

In the final frame, both defenses locked back in while both offenses started to feel the pressure mounting in a game separated by just a single possession the entire night. Huntland outscored Cascade 10-8 in the fourth quarter to send it to overtime where the Lady Champions persevered to hand Huntland a loss in the Lady Hornets’ home opener. 

Huntland falls to 0-1 and will travel to Wayne County on Saturday.

Cascade improves to 2-0 (0-0) and will host Summertown on Tuesday, LIVE on The Zinger 100.9 starting at 5:45 p.m.