Cascade Middle hands Lady Pats first defeat

Liberty's Kimme Bayne drives toward the basket while closely defended by Cascade's Summer Carter (55). (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Cascade Middle showed some rust that comes with having nine days off as the Lady Champions attempted to put a blemish on Liberty Middle's undefeated record.

Cascade hit a try spell midway through with only one field goal in the second quarter and didn't register a point in the third period until Heather Hart's free throw nearly four minutes into the frame. But, that one shot sparked an 8-0 run to sway momentum and Rashonda Johnson scored under the basket with 19 seconds to play to lift the Lady Champs to a 30-28 win Monday night.

"It's just one of those games where it's unfortunate somebody's got to walk away with a loss," Cascade coach Chad Spencer said.

Katie Vincent's three-point play late in the third quarter knotted the game at 20-all, which was one of five ties in the last seven minutes. Olivia Calvert came right back with an answer for the Lady Patriots (11-1) to give the home team a slight 22-20 edge with the final frame looming.

"If we'd caught the ball on our press break a few times we might could have scored a few more baskets, but I think our adrenalin was going," Spencer said.

Liberty dominated the boards in fourth, earning 3-4 chances to score on a few occasions.

Vincent's 3-pointer with 1:49 to play gave Cascade (5-1) its first lead of the second half 27-26 and didn't trail again.

A Matti Mitchell field goal tied the score at 28-all for the Lady Pats.

Vincent totaled 13 points to pace the visitors.

Calvert finished with 13 points and Mitchell nine.

Patriot Matt Clanton (50) shoots over Champion defender Nolan Barnes. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Cascade 44, Liberty 37 (B): After a tightly-contested first quarter, the Champions erupted in the second stanza to help them cruise to the win and improve to 6-0.

The scoreboard showed a 3-2 edge in Cascade's favor after six minutes of play. The visitors' offense caught up with the defense from there with Bryce Clinton netting seven of his team's 19-second quarter points to take a commanding 22-8 upper hand at intermission.

Matt Clanton's basket 6 seconds prior to the halftime horn was just the third field goal of the first half for Liberty (8-4).

Up 36-14 heading into the final frame, the Champs extended that lead slightly before emptying the bench with just over four minutes to play. The Patriots took full advantage and scored 23 points in the period, but it was too little, too late.

Blake Floyd paced Cascade offensively with 13 points, including hitting 3-of-4 at the foul line. Clinton finished with 10 points.

Ben Boyce came up with nine of his team-leading 13 points in the fourth for Liberty. Clanton totaled 10 points and Kyle Cunningham eight.

The Red, White and Blue host Forrest on Thursday night.

Forrest 32, Community 30 (G): In Chapel Hill, Savannah Brothers tallied 11 points and Sara Jordan nine to help the Lady Rockets to the victory.

"We had our chances. We just missed a few shots," Community coach Kevin Hinson said.

Viqueen Jamie Demonbreum's 18 points led all scorers. Taylor Thompson had eight.

Community (3-5) was up 7-6 early. Forrest carried a 12-11 lead into the half and maintained a 20-15 advantage entering the final period.

The Purple and Gold look to avenge an early-season loss as they trip to Cascade on Thursday night. Tip-off is at 6.