Cascade girls put scare in No. 4 Forrest

CHAPEL HILL -- Slightly over a year ago, the Cascade girls accomplished the unthinkable by breaking a five-year losing streak and toppling No. 2 Forrest in its own gym.

History very nearly repeated itself Thursday night as the Lady Champions clung to a five-point lead with just over three minutes remaining against the now-ranked No. 4 Lady Rockets.

A furious Forrest comeback left it in front by two with 7 seconds to play.

Cascade senior M.K. Potts weaved the ball through and around opposing defenders before getting fouled with just 0.2 second on the clock. She calmly stepped to the foul line and drained both shots with the crowd going nuts to send the game into overtime with the score 51-all.

However, the extra period belonged to the Lady Rockets. They never trailed and dropped in 7-of-8 free throws to secure a 61-54 win.

It was a see-saw battle throughout with 12 lead changes.

Jessica Popp put the Lady Champs (15-7, 7-5 District 9-A) on her back in the early stages, pouring in seven quick points as they carried a 15-8 lead into the second frame.

"The first quarter, we couldn't play any better than what we did," Cascade coach Chad Spencer said. "We stuck with our game plan, and we were coachable. Jessica was attacking the basket and scoring. We were executing our offense pretty well. Defensively, we did what we wanted to do."

Class A Miss Basketball candidate Beth Hawn kicked it into gear with eight second-quarter points to ignite her team and the Chapel Hill crowd. Teammate Adrea Jordan hit a free throw just before intermission to put the hosts in front 25-24.

A bucket by Potts capped off a 6-0 Cascade spurt to put them ahead 37-31 with the end of the third frame coming.

The Lady Rockets snagged momentum again when Hawn completed a 3-point play 44 seconds before the quarter ended.

"Being the No. 4 team in the state, they came out of halftime and made some adjustments on us and they got some easy baskets," Spencer said. "We made some freshman mistakes several times.

"They put as much pressure on the basketball as any Triple-A team that we play around here. They're a quality basketball team."

Potts topped off yet another 6-0 run with a field goal at the 3:21 mark of the fourth.

Not to be deterred, Forrest answered the bell with nine unanswered points, thanks mostly to more inspirational play by Hawn. The UT-Martin signee scored and was fouled to knot the game at 45-all with 1:08 showing. She missed the ensuing free throw but got her own miss and put it back through the hoop for the lead.

"We got a little excited about winning, and nobody wanted to attack the basket," Spencer said. "We went ahead and went into our delay game a little bit because they were in the bonus and were being real aggressive. I thought we might get some fouls and get on the free-throw line, but it didn't work out that way.

"We got to playing not to lose instead of playing to put them away."

Potts' clutch effort at the foul line sent the Bedford County fans who made the trip to their feet.

"What M.K. did with 0.2 second left was big-time," Spencer said. "That just shows that she can play at the next level."

A Hawn 3-pointer accounted for the 12th lead change and kick-started Forrest in OT.

After making all 12 free throws in regulation, Cascade made just 1-of-4 in the bonus stanza.

Hawn led all scorers with 28 points, including a 5-for-7 effort on the free-throw line. Christina Curtner made 5-of-6 foul shots en route to 12 points.

Potts finished with 17 points and nine rebounds. Popp was a perfect 5-for-5 at the charity stripe, totaled 15 points and grabbed eight boards. Kelsey Parker chipped in with seven rebounds. Spencer said point guard Haley Edmondson played "her best game since I've had her."

If Cascade can win its last two District 9-A games, it will lock up third place. Up first is a date with Middle Tennessee Christian in Murfreesboro on Tuesday night at 6.