During the two previous meetings between the Cascade Champions and Fayetteville City, the Champions were able to claim both contests by a combined four points, which ultimately helped the Champions lock down the No. 1 seed in the District 8-A tournament.

During Tuesday night's district semifinals, Fayetteville avoided the threepeat and rallied past Cascade for the 61-53 win over the Champions.

"I thought we played pretty well for most of the game. We had four guys in double figures and led the majority of the game, although we never could push it out," Champion coach Chris Lawson said.

Cascade led until the 3:26 mark of the fourth quarter when Hockett connected on a three-pointer to give the Tigers a one-point lead.

Barely 20 seconds later, Tyeus Layne was fouled on a made basket and converted the free throw attempt to complete the six-point swing for the Tigers.

Cascade was never able to recapture the lead.

"You have to give Brayden Hockett credit. He scored when they needed a bucket. And Marquiese Nance, you have to give him credit. He made a few shots down the stretch. Those are the two guys we had to locate in transition and cover them up because they were their main two scorers," Lawson said.

Up until the Tigers took the lead at the 3:26 mark of the fourth quarter, Cascade was able to respond to Fayetteville's rally and push the lead to either a one or two possession contest, but was never able to truly pull away.

When the Tigers finally took the lead late in the fourth, the script was flipped and it was Cascade who never would go away.

During the final three-plus minute, Cascade pulled within one possession of the Tigers' advantage three separate times.

"We needed one other person to step up and score. But the biggest thing is we had to step up and guard. They did a good job inside. Isaiah Thomsion-you really only get one shot at a rebound. We didn't get many second chance opportunities," Lawson added.

While Cascade got big points from Justis Carter and Chance Brown in the first half, the consistency scoring was a challenge for the Champions into the second half.

Of his team-high 14 points, Carter accounted for 12 in the first half and Brown, who finished with 12, tacked on nine before the intermission.

"Chance is a good offensive player. When he gets going, he's capable of scoring in bunches. He got loose a little bit there in the first half. That was big for us," Lawson said.

With Carter and Brown struggling to maintain the consistency scoring, it was Jackson Davis who came overcame foul trouble late in the game to lead the fourth-quarter charge.

Of his final 12 points, Davis knocked down 10 in the fourth quarter alone.

Hockett's 24 points led all scorers while Nance added 11 for the Tigers.

For the Champs, Carter led four players in double figures with 14 points, while Davis and Brown added 12 apiece.

Senior Alex Allison chipped in 11 as well.

While the final score went down as an eight-point loss, the Tigers made the most of late-game foul opportunities and in the final two minutes, cashed in on 9-of-10 tries from the charity stripe to knock off the No. 1 seeded Champions.

Cascade now sets its sights on Moore County in the District 8-A consolation round with the hopes of locking up the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Region 4-A tournament.

"We need to come back and get refreshed and work out some kinks. We have to have everybody step up and play," Lawson said.

Cascade will host the Raiders at 7 p.m. on Thursday evening.

Fayetteville 11 11 14 25 - 61

Cascade 16 11 10 16 - 53

Fayetteville: Brayden Hockett 24, Marquese Nance 11, Camaurionn Taylor 9, Isaiah Thomison 8, Corian Cash 6, Tyrus Layne 3.

Cascade: Justis Carter 14, Jackson Davis 12, Chance Brown 12, Alex Allison 11, Landon Lane 2, Seth Countess 2.

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

Halftime score: Cascade 27, Fayetteville 22.