FAYETEVILLE - Walking off the court in their District 8-A semifinal loss to Fayetteville last week left the Cascade Champions hurt but maybe more importantly, motivated.

Using that drive, the Champions (15-10) were eager to tip-off at Fayetteville in the Region 4-A semifinals with not only the promise of playing in a region title game, but also a state sectional berth with a trip to the state tournament on the line.

After dominating the game for the better part of three and a half quarters, the Champions executed just enough plays down the stretch and withstood a late charge by the Tigers (16-13) to punch their ticket to the Region 4-A title game with a 53-48 victory.

"We talk about a good team like Fayetteville is going to make a run. We knew it was coming-and it did. We got up on them and they made a run and threw a punch at us. Our guys did a good job of making free throws down the stretch and taking care of the basketball when they had to. They did what they had to do in order to finish it," Cascade coach Chris Lawson said.

Cascade grabbed the lead 47 seconds into the game on a made three-pointer by Lucas Clanton and never relinquished control of the scoreboard.

In their last meeting, Fayetteville junior Brayden Hockett went off for 24 points and led a late rally past the Champions for the upset in the 8-A semifinals.

Knowing his offensive capabilities, Lawson tasked senior Seth Countess with the challenge of marking Hockett on the defensive end of the court.

The plan worked for the most part as Hockett was limited to just six points through three quarters.

He did rattle loose for 11 points in the fourth and led the late charge that saw the Tigers whittle away an 11-point Cascade lead to just one point with less than ten seconds left.

"Hockett is one of the best players in the area, in my opinion. I have to give Seth Countess a lot of credit. We gave him the assignment of staying right with him and locking him down. I think Hockett got frustrated a little bit. I think that was one of the differences in the game. He never could get going and in a rhythm," Lawson said.

Cascade struggled to get going in the fourth quarter and match a 7-0 Fayetteville run that lasted nearly 2:30 of game time.

That run ended with a made basket by Champion junior Justis Carter, who also was fouled on the shot.

He converted the free throw attempt after for the three-point play, bumping the Cascade lead to 47-40 with 3:42 remaining in the quarter.

On the following two Cascade possessions, however, Carter was whistled for his third and fourth fouls on back-to-back charge calls.

With just over a minute left, Carter hauled in a key rebound off a Tiger miss, allowing Cascade to set up its offense in the half court and drain over 30 seconds of game time off the clock before the Tigers were forced to foul.

Following a pair of free throw makes on a one and one attempt by Seth Countess with 30 seconds left, Hockett once again rattled loose and drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key, cutting the Champion lead to 49-48 with eight seconds left.

In those final eight seconds, Fayetteville was forced to foul and Cascade was able to convert the needed free throw attempts, cashing in on 4-of-4 tries, to punch the Champions' ticket to the Region 4-A title.

Tuesday's region semifinal rematch between the Champs and Tigers was another balanced, yet efficient effort by Cascade that appears to be hitting its stride at the right time of the season.

Three players reached double figures, with senior Alex Allison leading the way with 14 points.

Carter and Countess each added 11.

Hockett led all scorers with 17 points, while Isaiah Thomison and Camaurian Taylor added 13 and 11, respectively.

As a team, Cascade was an efficient 15-of-18 attempts at the free throw line.

Even with the Hockett posting a game-high 17 points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter, the Champion defense held a talented Tiger offense in check yet again.

During three of the four meetings this season, the Cascade defense has held Fayetteville under 50 points, which directly led to the three Cascade wins.

The win sets up another rematch against an all-too-familiar opponent for the Champions.

Cascade will host Moore County the Region 4-A title.

In three previous meetings against the Raiders (14-12) this season, Cascade has won two match ups against Moore County, including the most recent which came in the District 8-A consolation game last week.

Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday in the region title game against the Raiders.

***Lawson on Cascade's defensive effort:

As we go, people make adjustments. When we played them the last time, we kind of played a little more and didn't make as many adjustments and ended up kind of letting one slip away at the end. Tonight, we focused on what we were going to be content with and what we were going to lock up. At the end of the game, our game plan was I think spot on. We limited Hockett and Marquese Nance as much as we could. We said somebody else had to beat us.

***Lawson on facing Fayetteville after losing the District 8-A semifinals:

We were hurt to lose the district semifinals on our home court. We turned it around and used it as motivation and our guys have been so hungry since. All of a sudden, we're back to playing pretty good ball again. We knew it was either going to be us or it was going to be them. That was our motivation. Our guys were locked in for this game.

***Lawson on the crowd and playing in a normalized environment:

Our crowd has been great all year long. I can only imagine in the future when we don't have social distancing and restrictions. Tonight it was a great environment for high school basketball. It was almost like back to normal.

***Lawson on another rematch against Moore County in the region title:

We did a good job against Moore County the other night. We locked in and did a really good job, just like tonight, on what we wanted to execute on defense. We have to go back to that and we have to make some adjustments and do it again. That's where it starts. The rest will take care of itself.

Cascade 14 11 17 11 - 53

Fayetteville 10 5 18 15 - 48

Cascade: Alex Allison 14, Justis Carter 11, Seth Countess 11, Lucas Clanton 8, Jackson Davis 7, Ethan Swan 2.

Fayetteville: Brayden Hockett 17, Isaiah Thomison 13, Camaurian Taylor 11, Marquese Nance 5, Corian Cash 2.

3-Point goals: Fayetteville (6): Taylor 3, Hockett 2, Nance; Cascade (2): Clanton 2.

Halftime score: Cascade 25, Fayetteville 15.