Following 16 years of loss after loss for Webb in their hardwood showdowns with neighboring Cascade, the Feet appear to have risen from the ashes and placed a team on the floor that has a chance to win night in and night out.

Feet senior Jordan Burchett stretches for a loose ball with Champion senior Nick Batts. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

Webb erased that losing streak last Monday and hoped to put the Champions on a skid of their own in Bell Buckle on Tuesday night.

Jordan Burchett scored with 4:24 left in the game to tie matters at 43-all thanks to a 7-0 spurt by the Feet.

Cascade answered immediately with a Cory Phillips basket 20 seconds later to initiate a 9-0 rally and the Champs were never seriously threatened again, running away with a 59-53 win.

"It wasn't anything that Webb didn't do," Cascade coach Charlie Pope said. "We were just able to outlast them. I'm glad we didn't have another minute or two left to play. Who knows what kind of outcome it would have been?

"The intensity level never dropped and we just kept wearing them down. They're a well-coached team. They play hard. They do a good job. We were lucky to come over here tonight and get a win."

"We couldn't get over the hump," Webb coach Jeff Mitchell said. "You expend that energy to get back in it, kind of like we did against Community, and if you don't make that one more play to get the lead, then more often than not it's tough."

The atmosphere in Bell Buckle was as good as it's been in recent memory for any athletic event and the rivalry appears to have found new life.

"Some of them have been playing basketball over here for years and don't get crowds like that. So, that was great," Mitchell said.

"It's the loudest that I can remember for a sustained amount of time," Pope said. "It would always usually start loud, but we would usually quiet the crowd and tonight we never could quiet the crowd. This is a wonderful place to play."

Cascade's coach hopes the atmosphere aids in their preparation for big-time road games on the horizon.

"To win in the postseason you're going to have to win on the road against well-coached teams, cause they're still playing, with crowds that are rooting against you. For us to come out and do that tonight in regular season, I think is going to pay dividends for us down the road."

The advantage changed hands four times in the opening period before the visitors edged out in front 10-9. The Champs (7-12) secured a 16-11 upper hand for the second quarter.

Webb's Jordan Foutch knotted the game at 18-all with 4:16 left in the first half. Cascade answered again with a three-point play from Matt Henderson 31 ticks later and they went into the break up 25-21.

Jacob Carkuff took over in the third period, scoring 12 of his game-high 27 points to keep the Champs ahead 43-36 entering the final period.

"He's probably the best kid we've seen," Mitchell said of Carkuff. "He's so quick, so athletic and made big plays tonight. A lot of kids are strong, but he's competitive too. We've got kids like that too that are competitors and that's what made it fun tonight."

Cascade turned on the afterburners late and stretched their advantage to 10 on a Phillips basket with 31 seconds showing.

Webb's Hunter Foutch (24) stretches for a rebound with Cascade's Josh Brandon (30) as Cory Phillips (11) and Jordan Foutch (11) look on. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

"Charlie had them ready. We knew that was going to happen," Mitchell said. "We finished at their place on shots in transition. We struggled finishing tonight, especially in the first half."

The Feet (16-3) owned the battle at the free-throw line, making twice as many as the visitors attempted, hitting 20-of-31. The Champs sank 10-of-16.

Jordan Burchett led all scorers with 21 points, including a 12-for-18 effort at the charity stripe. Hunter Foutch followed with 15 points.

Webb heads east on Interstate 24 en route to Chattanooga on Friday to play David Brainerd.

Cascade hits the road on Friday as well. They face Community with a home District 9-A tournament game on the line.

"We're in a dogfight," Pope said. "It could go either way. I've been in situations before where I've lost seeds with coin tosses and that stinks.

"The positive is, in our going over there, at least we're in control of our situation."