Entering Tuesday night's rivalry game against Cascade, Community coach Robbie Davis was a little concerned about his team's fatigue level, having played four games in six days.

While it was a bit of a sluggish start, eventually the Vikings settled in and took care of business in a 20-point, 68-48 victory over the Champions.

“The guys that are logging minutes have logged a ton. I was really concerned about dead legs. We dragged a little early, but I think the rivalry got us going,” Viking coach Robbie Davis said.

The game's slow start allowed the Champions (0-3) to battle to an 11-all draw by the end of the first quarter.

But the Vikings (2-2) stuck to the game plan and packed the paint with an effective zone defense that Cascade struggled to penetrate.

“They (Community) played a zone and mixed it up. The middle was open—we had a hard time making passes and catching the ball. If we can get that down and be strong with the basketball, then we have a chance to make a play,” Cascade coach Chris Lawson said.

During the second quarter, Community was able to stick to the game plan, work half court offense and get to the line.

Through the first six minutes of the quarter, the Vikings made good on six tries from the charity stripe.

Cascade on the other hand, struggled to connect from the floor.

The first points of the quarter came on a pair of free throw attempts by Lucas Clanton with 2:39 left in the half.

It wasn't until Izzy Batts hit a corner three with 18 seconds left in the frame until the Champs hit a shot from the field.

The offense looked a little better for the Champs in the third quarter with a couple of baskets by senior Seth Countess, but Cascade still struggled to crack the stingy Viking zone defense.

Davis was quick to credit the experience of his roster for knowing where to be at the right time to help shut down Cascade's offense.

There's certain things we teach our guys out of our half-court stuff to key on. Certain guys have certain responsibilities when the ball goes certain directions,” Davis said.

“There's nothing in particular we do that's special, it's just those guys that are doing it have been doing it for so long. The experience kind of showed up there.”

“Community played a little bit different. They were really, really solid in that zone. We haven't seen that yet. We've got to be able to adjust some,” Lawson said.

While the Champs continued to struggle from the field, one area of significant improvement Cascade can hang its hat on was getting to the free throw line and making the most of the opportunities once there.

On Friday night against the Webb School, Cascade managed just 3-of-12 tries.

During Tuesday's game against the Vikings, Cascade connected on 19-of-24 attempts.

Tuesday's win gets the Vikings back to .500 on the season and even though it's been a busy slate through the first week and a half of the season, Davis feels good about a team that lost key components of its state sectional squad from last season.

“This is our fourth game in six days. Where we're at right now with everything going on and our limited time, I'm really proud of our guys,”he said.

Stratton Lovvorn led three Vikings in double figures with 19 points.

Will Reed and Evan Petrie added 18 and 12, respectively.

For Cascade, Countess led the team with 12 points, while Landon Lane chipped in 11.

Through the first three games, Cascade continues to look for consistency on the offensive half of the court and Lawson has high hopes his team can continue to fit his system and reach its full potential.

Tuesday's game against the Vikings marked a season-high 48 points scored by the Champs, but Lawson and the Champs' coaching staff continue to look for the consistent scorers, who he hopes rounds into shape following the Thanksgiving break.

“We scored 48 points, which is an improvement. We've yet to find a consistent one, two, three guys who can give 10 or 15 points a night,” he said.

“You can tell Cascade is going to be a good basketball team and in their league, they have a good shot of competing and winning that thing,” Davis added.

Both teams get the remainder of the Thanksgiving week off and will return to action next week.

Community returns to the hardwood on Tuesday at Huntland, while Cascade travels to Jackson County.

Community 11 18 22 17 — 68

Cascade 11 7 13 17 — 48

Community: Stratton Lovvorn 19, Will Reed 18, Evan Petrie 12, Jackson Bailey 8, Maki Fleming 7, Jacob Flanagan 2, Noah Newkirk 2.

Cascade: Seth Countess 12, Landon Lane 11, Ethan Swan 9, Lucas Clanton 7, Izzy Batts 5, Alex Allison 2, Jackson Davis 2.

3-Point goals: Cascade (3): Countess, Lane, Batts; Community (2): Lovvorn, Reed.

Halftime score: Community 29, Cascade 18.