Pope's game plan works perfectly

MURFREESBORO -- Everything just seems to taste better and smell fresher for coaches after their teams do everything they ask and dominate their opponents.

Cougars John Wright (left) and Logan Siler sandwich Champion guard Julian Marable on his way to the basket. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

Cascade coach Charlie Pope probably slept pretty well Tuesday night as his kids dotted every 'I' and crossed all the 'T's in a 65-36 District 9-A victory.

The game plan allowed the Champions to take advantage of the Cougars' weaknesses en route to a quick 13-0 upper hand as they led from start to finish.

A basket by Jonathan Sims at the 4:20 mark of the first quarter was Middle Tennessee Christian's first.

The opening period horn sounded and revealed a 22-6 advantage for the guests.

"We saw some things on tape we thought we could exploit," Pope said. "We did a pretty good job of doing that. (MTC coach Jim Martin) came back and made some adjustments in the second quarter and kind of chipped away at it a little bit.

"But, I was pleased with the first quarter. We executed the game plan about as good as we can execute. That kind of took the wind out of their sails because they were definitely playing catch-up."

Sims thinned the twine from behind the arc with 29 seconds remaining in the first half that capped a 10-2 run to draw the Cougars to within 31-23.

Cascade's Terrell Johnson nailed a 3-pointer of his own 24 ticks later to steal some of the glory and re-gain momentum for his squad.

The shot of adrenaline carried over into the third quarter as those three points were the first of a 26-2 sequence that included a dazzling display of 3-point bombs for the Champs (11-10, 4-2).

"Terrell Johnson has a funny knack for making big plays in timely situations," Pope said. "Then, Caleb Davis came in and played great defense. That's what seniors do.

"That helped catapult the run. We fed off that."

Two 3s by Jacob Carkuff and another by Alex Craig in the first 55 seconds of the third period ruined the taste of the home crowd's halftime refreshments.

"Sometimes people emphasize (shooting 3-pointers) too much and it gets into their heads," Pope said. "So, we take an approach that we're not going to talk about the importance of making 3s because if they've played basketball at all, then they know it's important. If they're not smart enough to realize that, then we've got problems. We encourage them to just play."

Carkuff must be at the top of the sophomore class academically as he totaled five 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 17 points. Craig graded out high as well with three 3s and 11 points as the Champs ended up with 10 makes from behind the arc. Brandon Hall chipped in with 10 points.

Sims was the Cougars' (7-12, 2-5) high-scorer with 14 points.

Cascade gets to enjoy a week off with smiles in their faces before taking on Forrest on Tuesday in Chapel Hill.

"We've got a lot more games to play than just Chapel Hill," Pope said. "We've got a lot of things to work on. We're going to focus on us primarily.

"We don't want to turn this into the Super Bowl. It's one very important game on the schedule and it's a game we really want to get. But, if we emphasize it too much and you don't get it, then where do we go?"

The Champs are riding high after their fourth win in a row and hope the streak continues as the 9-A race heats up.

"We're confident now. We've got some momentum. We've already played them once and know what to expect," Pope said.