CHAPEL HILL — Lady Champion coach Janie Demonbreum has seen growth from her team throughout the season.
With flashes of growth here and there, it’s been a building processes that is starting to show signs of the program turning a corner.
On Monday night in the District 7-AA consolation game against Grundy County, Cascade could have folded when the Lady ‘Jackets cut the Cascade lead to four points with less than three minutes to play.
But savvy play and a perfect effort at the free throw line in the closing minutes preserved the lead and Cascade knocked off Grundy County, 45-33, to finish third in the District 7-AA tournament.
After Grundy County’s Carlee Smartt hit a basket to cut the Cascade lead to 35-31, it was the ability to get to the free throw line by freshmen Kaegan Young and Suzanna Crews that allowed Cascade to extend its lead.
“Those two, Kaegan and Suzanna are freshmen. We’ve talked about from Day 1 that we weren’t going to lay down in the end. We were going to learn how to finish these games,” Demonbreum said.
“I challenged them with that in our first game against Hampshire when we won by one. I’m very proud of them and this whole group. The maturity is coming.”
Crews and Young went a perfect 6-of-6 at the line in the final 1:36 to allow Cascade to not just preserve the lead, but extend it to double figures.
In their previous meeting earlier this month, Cascade relied on the efforts of Sophie Ray, who went for a game-high 29 and carried the bulk of the scoring on her own.
Grundy County’s game plan was fairly simple—limit Ray’s effectiveness.
What backfired on the Lady ‘Jackets plans was the depth in scoring in Monday night’s consolation game.
While Ray still managed to score six, it was Isabella Rhodes and Suzanna Crews who combined for 28 points to lead Cascade to the win.
“There are people in this area that have seen Sophie take over in ball games and she 100% has the ability to do that. But I’ve got girls who can step up and make shots when Sophie is being guarded. That’s so much growth for us. It makes me happy we have multiple girls step up and score,” Demonbreum said.
Crews went on a tear in the 19-point second quarter and scored nine points, an was a perfect 5-of-5 attempts at the line in the quarter.
Rhodes provided a more consistent level of scoring, which included a pair of three-pointers, as she led all scorers with 15 points.
In addition to posting a game-high points total, Rhodes crashed the boards and helped Cascade limit second-shot opportunities by Grundy County.
“In the first half we didn’t do great but in the second half, we challenged them on the boards. We didn’t want them to get any more second chance opportunities. And Bella Rhodes—I have to say a lot about her. She has crashed the boards so hard for us this year. A lot of times people only look at who is scoring the most but when I look at rebounds, I specifically think of Bella,” Demonbreum said.
The win pairs Cascade against the District 8-AA runner up and will put the Lady Champs on the road in the opening round of region play on Friday night, where a win is needed to keep their season alive.
Demonbreum’s focus in leading up to Friday night’s region opener is keeping the spotlight on Cascade.
“We’re just going to go back to the basics. We want to keep our focus on us and what we need to be successful on the court,” she said.

Cascade 5 19 9 12 — 45
Grundy Co. 6 7 10 10 — 33

Cascade: Isabella Rhodes 15, Suzanna Crews 13, Kaegan Young 8, Sophie Ray 6, Laina Carter 3.
Grundy Co.: Gracie Painter 11, Carlee Smartt 9, Jaidys McDaniel 5, Wrylee McDaniel 3, Kasadee Crabtree 3, Maloree Woodlee 2.
3-Point goals: Cascade (3): Rhodes 2, Carter; Grundy Co. (4): Painter 2, J. McDaniel, Smartt
Halftime score: Cascade 24, Grundy Co. 13.