Jared Carkuff racked up 16 points and Ryan Adcock contributed 11 to lead Cascade Middle to a 41-26 win over Middle Tennessee Christian Middle in Murfreesboro on Monday night.

The Champions (3-2) went up 8-5 in the first quarter and shut out the hosts in the second stanza to take a 13-5 upper hand into the half. They were outscored by four in the third period but still entered fourth up 24-19.

Middle Tennessee Christian 50, Cascade 27 (G): After starting the season 3-0, the Lady Champions dropped their second straight as a deep, talented group of Lady Cougars took control early and never let up.

MTC led 10-3 after a quarter, 21-11 at halftime and 29-20 heading into the fourth, where the pressure was too much for Cascade.

"We've got to mature with our ball-handling," Lady Champion coach Chad Spencer said. "We have a tendency to stray away from what we've been working on in practice with the pressure; we just panic.

"To beat good teams you've got to be able to keep your composure. That's just going to come with time and playing good teams."

Madison Hall led all scorers with 19 points for the Lady Cougars and Alexa Middleton added 12.

Jessica Popp paced the visitors with seven points.

"We're still struggling from the foul line," Spencer said. "(MTC) was a scrappy bunch. They play hard and play a lot of kids."

Cascade plays their third of five consecutive road games on Thursday with a trip to Chapel Hill to face Forrest Middle. Girls tip off at 6 p.m.