MT. PLEASANT, Tenn. – The Cascade Champions (16-13, 5-3) saw their season come to a close on the road against the District 10-AA Runners-Up, Mt. Pleasant Tigers (18-8, 3-5), 78-45, on Saturday night.
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MT. PLEASANT, Tenn. – The Cascade Champions (16-13, 5-3) saw their season come to a close on the road against the District 10-AA Runners-Up, Mt. Pleasant Tigers (18-8, 3-5), 78-45, on Saturday night.
Jakyri and Jayden McClure, along with Micah Dale, were simply too much for the Champs to handle as the trio combined for 58 points. Ryan Benderman, who was the second-leading scorer coming in on the season for Mt. Pleasant, averaging 15.2 PPG, was held to just three points, but he dished out six assists, pulled down five rebounds, and swiped three steals for the Tigers.
For Cascade, Tyler Barrett connected on four three-pointers to score a team-high 12 points. Jason Cullum put in 10 points despite picking up three first-half fouls in what was his final game wearing a Cascade uniform. Kaleb Kelso, Cascade’s leading scorer in the regular season averaging 15.1 PPG, was held to just two second-half points on 1-6 shooting and 0-4 from downtown. Henry Stone chipped in with eight points of his own while freshman forward Cooper McElroy finished with six points on the night.
Jakyri McClure led all scorers with 24 points and nine rebounds while Jayden McClure and Dale each chipped in with 17 points apiece as the Tigers outscored Cascade in transition 12-0, points off turnovers at 18-5, and finished with a massive advantage on points in the paint, outscoring the visitors 40-12 in that department while holding the Champions to 23% (6-26) from downtown. The hosts shot 54% from the field overall while holding Cascade to just 29%.
To start, Cascade took an early 3-2 lead on a deep triple from Cullum, but then the floodgates opened for Mt. Pleasant.
Senior Jason Cullum (3) scored 10 points during his final game in a Cascade uniform at Mt. Pleasant on Saturday in the Region 5-AA Quarterfinal.
David Smith
The Tigers closed the first quarter on a 17-2 run to take a 19-5 lead after Micah Dale connected on a long two at the buzzer as the long arms in the extended half-court zone pressure from the hosts gave Cascade all kinds of struggles on offense.
In the second quarter, Mt. Pleasant again put up 19 points, but Cascade connected on a trio of three-pointers from Barrett to cut the lead to 35-22. Then, Laik Schang came off the bench and hit a backbreaking corner three-pointer to beat the buzzer for the Tigers and give the hosts a 16-point lead, 38-22, going into the halftime locker room.
Coming out for the second half, Cascade went to their 2-2-1 full-court press, forcing some turnovers and missed shots for the Tigers. However, Mt. Pleasant’s size and length was too much on the offensive glass, cleaning up their misses with layups and not allowing Cascade to get out run. When the visitors did force turnovers, they seemed to almost immediately give the ball right back, finishing with 15 turnovers on the road.
In all, Mt. Pleasant outscored Cascade, 15-11, in the third quarter to take a 20-point lead, 53-33, into the final frame.
As both teams slowly began to empty their benches as the fourth quarter wore on, the Tigers continued to pour it on, outscoring Cascade 25-12 in the fourth quarter, punctuated by a thunderous Jayden McClure fastbreak dunk to reach the final score of 78-45.
Chris Lawson ends his fifth year at the helm for Cascade with back-to-back losses in the Region Quarterfinals after reaching the state sectional round in two of his first three seasons.
Head Coach Chris Lawson (right) led the Champions to their 4th winning season in five years at Cascade. He will return a promising group of seniors in 2025-26, headlined by All-District performers Kaleb Kelso and Henry Stone.
David Smith
However, Lawson picked up his 4th winning season in five attempts, and finished a perfect 3-0 against cross-county rival Community. Going into the 2025-26 campaign, he will be returning all but one of his primary contributors from this season – Jason Cullum – as a promising future sits on the horizon for Cascade.
Mt. Pleasant improves to 18-8 overall and advances to the Region 5-AA Semifinals under head coach Steve Crowder for the second-consecutive season. The Tigers will play the District 9-AA Champions, Cannon County, at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday at Cascade in a rematch of last season’s Region 5-AA Championship game which the Lions won, 68-61.
Cascade’s season ends at 16-13.
