Champions make it past scrappy Boyd

Locked into a two-point game midway through the second quarter, Cascade was posed with quite the challenge by a gritty F.C. Boyd Christian team that had never defeated the Champions since the two were placed into the same district before the 2005-06 season.

Playing its fourth game in five days, Cascade looked somewhat sluggish in the early going but scored eight of the final 10 points of the first half and went onto a 70-52 win on homecoming Friday night.

Perhaps the long week played a role in the lackluster start as the Champs tried to work their way up to game speed. But, coach Charlie Pope gave credit to Boyd Christian's preparation and Bronco coach Chris Sullens.

"We shot it well in the second half, not so much in the first half," Pope said. "They were playing a sagging man-to-man (defense), a 1-3-1 zone, some box-and-one. They were throwing every combination of junk defense you can imagine at us. That's not something we typically see a lot of. It took us awhile to really get comfortable."

Cascade (12-8, 8-2 District 9-A) had five players with eight or more points, led by Christian Edmondson's 21, which included four of the team's nine 3-pointers.

"I was happy with that balanced scoring," Pope said. "Anytime you are faced with a team that likes to do those types of things, you've got to distribute the ball and you've got to get other guys involved because they design those defenses to take away one or two people. If you've got other guys step up and make plays, you're going to get them out of that, and we did that in the second half."

Jared Carkuff poured in eight of his 14 points in the third quarter. His effort shortly after the break paired nicely with Edmondson's nine points in the frame to help the Champs distance themselves from the McMinnville visitors.

Boyd Christian's J.T. Morgan netted eight of his team-leading 17 points in the final period, but it wasn't enough. Dylan Roller joined his teammate in double figures with 13 points.

Cascade was up 18-11 after a quarter, 29-21 at the break and 53-34 entering the fourth.

After a heartbreaking double overtime loss at Huntland, the Champs now carry a four-game winning streak into Tuesday night's home game with Bedford County neighbor Community.

"They're also well-coached, and they'll be ready for us," Pope said of the Vikings. "They'll have as many days to prepare as we do. It'll be a dogfight, it always is."