By WILL CARTER - For the T-G
The Cascade Lady Champions entered the locker room at halftime with a slim 19-16 lead, but the Lady Purple Tigers of Watertown opened up the second half with a barrage of threes, giving them an eight-point lead heading into the fourth frame.
Cascade rallied to close the gap, but free throws in crunch time kept falling for the Lady Tigers en route to a 45-36 road win.
“We had a great first quarter. The best first quarter we have had in a long time. We just have to figure out how to do it the whole game,” Lady Champions coach Kendall Hampton said. “We gave up 17 points in the third quarter and that was the turning point. We have to figure out how to maintain what we’re doing every quarter and not take a quarter off.”
The Lady Champions jumped out to a quick lead behind Caroline Stone’s six points in the first quarter, and a couple of baskets from freshman Sophie Ray.
Both teams struggled in the second quarter with Cascade scoring only two field goals and Watertown putting only three through the net.
Coming out of halftime, it was all Watertown.
Madison King knocked down her first three of the game for the Lady Purple Tigers, sparking the 17-point quarter.
King finished with 15 points on the night, nine of which were from behind the arc.
“I think we got too content with where we were coming out of the half. We kind of just coasted for a little bit, and then they were ahead,” Hampton said.
But like many of the Lady Champions’ contests so far this season, they clawed back into the game.
Stone drove to the basket on back-to-back possessions in the fourth quarter for layups that sparked a short run for the Lady Champions.
She finished with 14 points on the night.
“Our players are really resilient and have a lot of fight. We had some good looks that didn’t connect. They (Watertown) hit their foul shots, and that’s what closed the game out,” Hampton said.
Where the Lady Tigers thrived at the free throw line, the Lady Champions struggled for the duration of the contest, shooting 3-10 on the night.
“We shot 30 percent from the foul line, so it’s going to be hard to win any game when you do that,” Hampton said.
Looking ahead at the schedule, Hampton emphasized the need to hit foul shots and continue to improve before region play begins.
“The whole point of this (non-region play) is to work and get better. We need to make sure we secure rebounds and take away second chance points. With the offense we run, we have to hit foul shots. If we can’t do that, then it takes away from our success.”
Watertown 9 7 17 12 — 45
Cascade 13 6 6 11 — 36
Watertown: Madison King 15, Kieiah Maklary 11, Gwen Franklin 8, Alie Tunks 6, Lola Chappell 3, Jaleigh Robertson 2.
Cascade: Caroline Stone 14, Jordan Green 7, Sophie Ray 6, Abby Littrell 3, Annabelle Calvert 3, Hailey Giel 2, Lani Jones 1.
3-Point goals: Cascade (3): Calvert, Green, Littrell; Watertown (5): King 3, Maklary, Chappell.
Halftime score: Cascade 19, Watertown 16.
