Dream disappears as Class A power halts Champs

CROSS PLAINS -- A high-arching 3-point bomb found its target of twine from the hands of Matt Henderson to give Cascade a two-point lead just past the midway point of the third quarter.

Those who traveled the 90-mile jaunt Tuesday to support the Champions rose to their feet in the East Robertson High School gym as the possibility of knocking off the top-ranked team in Class A and advancing to the school's first sectional this century appeared like a distinct possibility.

"It was almost feelin' too good," said Cascade coach Charlie Pope, whose team overcame an 11-point deficit. "When they came over in the huddle, I tried to remind them we still had a long way to play. If we could have scripted that run maybe the last 3-4 minutes of the game, I'd have been pleased with that. But, there's no quit in these kids. I knew they weren't just going to lay down. I knew we had a run in us."

Those dreams came to a crashing halt as No. 1-seed Clarksville Academy answered quickly with an impressive rally before pulling away in the fourth quarter to advance with a 74-53 win in a Region 5-A semifinal.

The Cougars (31-2), who eliminated the Champions (17-12) in the round of 32 for the second straight year, play McEwen in Thursday's region championship.

"For us to have beaten that team, we would have had to have played exceptionally well and had them maybe not play quite as well. Give credit where credit is due, I mean that's a top-notch team," Pope said.

The District 10-A winners had their way in the paint with their length, which allowed them several second-chance points and 3-point play opportunities.

"It's difficult to defend that (length) because you don't see that often," Pope said of CA. "You don't see that hardly at all. You can talk about it all day long, but you can't simulate it in practice. It makes it tough to prepare."

With his team trailing 44-42 and 3:25 left in the third quarter, Malcolm Smith gathered in an offensive rebound and scored to kickstart a 14-1 Clarksville Academy run in which he provided 11 points.

"(Malcolm) Smith, there's a reason he's a Mr. Basketball candidate," Pope said. "He put that team on his back, and he had a little bit of help from (Heath Dyer), who chipped in a couple big shots. They had to take the game, we didn't give it to them. I can take some solace in that."

A 10-1 run helped the Cougars outscore the Bell Buckle/Wartrace crew 18-8 in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Smith finished with 32 points. Dyer rarely missed and contributed 14. Martin Smith chipped in 14 also.

Henderson netted 10 of his team-leading 18 points in the third quarter. Jared Carkuff scored 16 and Ricky Hord 13.

CA got 14 points from the Smith twins to lead 16-10 at the end of one.

Hord's basket 15 seconds prior to halftime kept the Champs within striking distance, trailing 34-25 at intermission.

Henderson came up with seven big points to key a 14-1 Orange and Black spurt, including a trey at the 4:40 mark of the third that put them in front 41-39. His fourth 3 came 56 seconds later and gave his team their final lead of the season, 44-42.

Cascade now bids farewell to four seniors who contributed heavily to the team winning a total of 35 games the last two seasons. Henderson, Hord, Zack Hitchcock and Gerald "Happy" Johnson have all been with the program the last four seasons.

"They've been a tremendous asset to our program," Pope said. "It's been a joy to coach them. They try to succeed and exceed expectations in the classroom, and they're good kids in the community. There isn't one of them you wouldn't want your daughter to date and I have two (daughters).

"I don't think that you can replace them. I think that you try to plug holes and change roles. ... We're at a good time right now in our program, but we know it's got to be sustained with hard work."

McEwen 62, Forrest 41: In the other 5-A semifinal, the second-seeded Warriors outscored the District 9-A champion Rockets in every quarter to improve to 23-4 and advance.

McEwen was up 15-10 after a quarter, 26-19 at the half and 42-25 entering the final period.

Walt Andrews and Tanner Wilson contributed 15 points apiece for the Warriors. Tyler Wilson added 13.

Corey Bishop knocked down four 3s en route to 18 points for the Rockets (12-19).