Cascade's Matt Henderson comes down with an offensive rebound midway through the second half. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

The 2007-08 season has been a bumpy ride for a Cascade team that entered the summer with extremely high expectations despite being hit hard by graduation.

Their schedule hasn't allowed for a plethora of pushovers, instead the Champions have been challenged weekly by teams that are favored to go deep into February in one classification or another.

Even the last date on the regular season schedule didn't present a cupcake as third-ranked Nashville Christian entered the Wartrace gym seeking their 27th 'W'. The Eagles got what they were looking for by taking a 66-59 decision, but it didn't come without a fight.

Things looked bleak early as Cascade went 6:26 without a field goal midway through the first half and found themselves down 32-14. However, nobody in orange and black threw in the towel and they mounted a rally.

After trailing 38-21 at the half, Albert Hatchett laid in a basket 3 seconds before the horn signaling the end of the third quarter to draw the Champs to within 51-39.

"I never thought that they were going to quit," Cascade coach Charlie Pope said of his troops. "That's not been their M.O. All year long they've competed, battled and played their hearts out.

"Going into the locker room at halftime we felt that if we could get the deficit down and manageable by the end of the third quarter, we would have a shot to win the ballgame because I don't know how many close games Nashville Christian's really been in."

Jacob Carkuff sank a pair of free throws with a minute left in the game to shrink their deficit to 60-54.

Nashville Christian (27-1) then showed why they owned District 10-A this season by finishing strong and hitting all six free throws down the stretch.

"We just never could quite get over that hump," Pope said. "We missed a couple crucial box outs early in the fourth quarter, missed a couple opportunities from guys that normally make shots in the situations we put them in."

Despite the loss, Cascade (8-14) hopes the high level of competition provided a precursor to February's postseason basketball.

Champion senior Ryan Morton (54) nudges through the Nashville Christian defense to get a shot off. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

"If you look at our schedule, eight of our losses have come against teams in the Top 12 of Class A in the state of Tennessee, which speaks volumes for what we're trying to do," Pope said. "It will eventually pay dividends. I'm a firm believer in that.

"In the grand scheme of building a program, it's necessary that you put your kids in that environment as many times as you can in the regular season and we're going to do that as long as I'm the coach here. I really believe that it gets them ready for tournaments."

Champion seniors Phillips, Hatchett, Nolan Spencer, Ryan Morton, Josh Brandon and Nick Batts were all honored individually at a halftime ceremony alongside their parents.

Phillips returned the gesture by leading his team with 15 points. Carkuff and Morton followed closely with 12 apiece.

Caden Anderson scored in every quarter, bucketed three 3s and finished with 20 points for the Eagles. Connor Davidson was a terror in the post with 17 points. Zach Bledsoe contributed 10.

Cascade was able to keep it close with a strong effort at the free-throw line, sinking 13-of-18. Nashville Christian was 9-for-11.

Up next for the Champs is home District 9-A tournament showdown with rival Community on Tuesday night at 7.

Click here for a look at the bracket.