Champs can't get over hump at MTC

MURFREESBORO -- The early stages of Cascade's pivotal District 9-A matchup at Middle Tennessee Christian contained five lead changes before the Cougars took control and held on for a 59-56 victory Tuesday night.

The Champions (13-10, 9-4 9-A) trailed 13-8 after a quarter as their recent woes at the start of games continued. They have been outscored 42-17 in the opening quarter of their last three district road losses.

"We've got to get focused and we've got to come prepared and we've got to do a better job of executing our game plan and not spotting people leads," Cascade coach Charlie Pope said.

A basket by Zack Hitchcock pulled the Champs to within 26-23 at the break.

They twice eased to within a point in the third quarter but MTC (9-14, 6-6) never gave up its advantage, getting a putback from Killen Middleton at the buzzer to enter the fourth period up 45-38.

A pair of free throws by Gerald "Happy" Johnson shrunk Cascade's deficit to 49-46 with 3:43 to play, but they were unable to make it a one-possession game again the rest of the way. They got a 3-pointer at the buzzer from Ricky Hord for the game's final points.

"Credit to Middle Tennessee Christian, they made a couple big plays there when we got it down," Pope said. "We had our opportunity at the free-throw line and couldn't cash in those. Right now, we're just now playing real well.

"I knew we wouldn't quit. These guys don't quit. We just didn't execute in several phases of the game. We've just got to keep getting better till we run out of games to play."

Middleton was the game's top scorer with 19 points. Chris Brandon followed closely with 17 points, including three 3s.

Cascade fed the ball into the post consistently throughout and Johnson took advantage with a team-leading 14 points.

"It was more of a focal point because in that lost to Forrest, in the first half, we only attempted three shots in the paint and that's unacceptable," Pope said. "I was much more pleased with our effort to get the ball inside. We just had difficulty scoring the ball."

Christian Edmondson scored 11, while Hord and Jared Carkuff both netted 10 to give the visitors four double-digit scorers.

MTC was 11-of-19 at the foul line. The Champs hit just 3-of-8.

Cascade has yet to win a road game in 2010 and have lost four straight away from home dating back to the finals of the Mid-State Christmas Tournament. It hopes to end that skid at 9-A leader Eagleville on Friday night at 7:30.

"If you're gonna play in postseason, you've got to learn how to win on the road," Pope said. "It's not that we can't do it. It's just that we haven't done it the last few games.

"I told them they're guaranteed three more games and then who knows? We'll see how they want the end of their season to be written."

The Wartrace boys are alone in second place in the current district standings but have no margin for error to keep that spot.