Champs break open battle with Vikes

A nip-tuck battle teetered to Cascade's favor shortly before halftime and the Champions never relinquished the advantage again in a 62-57 win over Bedford County neighbor Community in front of a rowdy crowd Tuesday night.

An Austin Thurber basket put Community in front 29-23 midway through the second quarter. However, the Champions answered with eight unanswered points in 79 seconds.

"That kind of killed our momentum. We're just not communicating, just not matching up on defense," Community coach Jace Bryant said.

Cody Pierce's 3-pointer broke the Viking drought to ease them in front 32-31, but it was their last lead of the ballgame.

Jared Carkuff answered for Cascade (13-8, 9-2 District 9-A) just 18 seconds later with a trey of his own before Viking Zeke Grissom tied the game up at 34-all. Ricky Hord put the Orange and Black in front for good with the final basket of the half with 24 ticks showing.

It was the fifth straight win for Cascade and an important one at that if they want to maintain pace with leader Eagleville.

"We like where we're at. If we just come out and take care of business, we might have a say in who finishes first," Cascade coach Charlie Pope said.

Christian Edmondson and Matt Henderson combined for 13 points in the first quarter to help Cascade to a slim 23-21 lead.

"That's why these games are fun to be a part of -- you have to expect the unexpected," said Pope of the 44-point first frame.

Bryant said: "Both teams had good flow. It wasn't like neither team was playing hard on defense. We were just hitting shots. They were hitting shots."

Community (6-16, 4-7) cooled off offensively in the third quarter, going 3:30 without a basket, a span in which Cascade countered with a 7-0 run to make it 47-37.

"Our defense had to improve," Pope said. "We were giving up points at a rapid rate in the first half. I felt like our press would get into their legs a little bit."

The Vikings refused to go away quietly, getting a 3-ball from Sammy Bryant and a basket from Jake Leverette to finish off the third quarter and start up the fourth, respectively.

They climbed all the way back to slim their deficit to 56-53 after Thurber drained a trey with 1:30 to go in the fourth.

"I think that says a lot about our kids," Bryant said. "When you get down 10 on the road, it's easy just to pack it up and go home. We had a lot of pride to get it back down to six and five."

Hord put the game away with a pair of field goals, including one instance where he threw the ball off a back of a defender to inbounds the ball to himself at mid-court, then promptly sped to the basket for a layup.

"(Hord) probably played one of his best games, if not his best game," Pope said. "He showed why he's a senior veteran point guard getting some looks from some college coaches. He did a lot of good things tonight, a lot of things that don't show up in the box score."

Eight players on the floor netted eight or more points and each team had five different shooters drain at least one 3-pointer.

Carkuff and Hord finished with 13 points apiece. Edmondson tallied 12 and Henderson 10.

Leverette poured in eight of his team-leading 13 points in the last quarter. Thurber and Cody Pierce both netted 10.

"I told our guys after the game, 'I'm so proud to be their coach.' I don't care who we play, I don't like losing. But, I can handle it a little better when I have five guys out there playing as hard as we did tonight. We battled," Bryant said.

Next on the schedule for Cascade is a road trip to Chapel Hill to battle another rival, Forrest.

Community welcomes Middle Tennessee Christian to Unionville.

"I told the guys that (Cascade) is the best or second best team in the district. If we bring this effort every night, we're going to win some games," Bryant said.

"Our goal is to get into the top four of the district. We still have a chance."

Tip-off for both games is slated for Friday night at 7:30.