WOODBURY, Tenn. – The Cascade Champions (13-7, 2-1) jumped out to a 21-point lead at halftime over the No. 3 ranked Cannon County Lions (15-4, 2-0) before holding off a furious rally down the stretch in a 67-65 wire-to-wire upset win inside of Robert A. Harris Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

For the second consecutive game, Doug Worsley’s Champions closed out a one-possession game with a stop on the defensive end after Anderson Lara – who scored 21 of his game-high 24 points in the second half alone – came up short on a 35-foot fadeaway three-pointer at the buzzer. 

Kaleb Kelso led the way for Cascade with a team-high 20 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter alone. Henry Stone finished with 19 points, Tyler Rodgers added 12 points in the first half, and Cooper McElroy chipped in with 11 points as the visitors earned a split in the non-district season series.

Henry Stone (10) reverses in two of his 19 points in the second half of the Champions' upset win over No. 3 Cannon County on Tuesday night.

David Smith

After torching Cascade for 31 points in the first meeting between these two teams, the Lions’ leading scorer, Lukas Phillips, was held to just 15 points on the night. Miles Alexander was forced to navigate early foul trouble yet again, but he still finished with 14 points on the night.

It was all Cascade early on with the visitors jumping out to a 10-2 lead before taking a 21-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The Champions played even better in the second, maintaining their frenetic energy on both ends of the floor to outscore the Lions by 10 points, 18-8, to head into the halftime locker room with an emphatic 39-18 lead. Cascade connected on seven three-pointers in the first half alone while holding the Lions to zero.

Cooper McElroy dunks home two of his 11 points late in the first half of Cascade's non-district upset win at No. 3 Cannon County on Tuesday night.

David Smith

However, Jared Nave’s Lions came out in the second half looking like the No. 3 team in Class AA, led by Anderson Lara opening the third quarter with eight points in the first four minutes of the period to help trim the lead down to 44-30 at the halfway point. As the quarter wound down, Phillips knocked in a pair of free throws to bring the Lions within seven points before Kelso closed out the period with a 15-foot pull-up jumper to give Cascade a 49-41 lead heading into the final frame.

 Cannon County kept up their pressure in the fourth, finally drawing within a single possession after Lara’s layup made it 56-53 with 3:37 remaining. Stone responded for the Champions with a knifing lefty layup over the outstretched arms of the 6-foot-5 Eli Garrett on the ensuing possession, but then Alexander fought back with a pair of free throws at the 3:04 mark to get it back down to three.

Coming out of a timeout, Cascade went to Kelso on a dribble-handoff, and this time he floated in two points from six feet over Phillips to go back up by five, 60-55. Alexander split a pair of free throws before Kelso once again converted on the other end for the Champions on a strong drive to the hoop. Kelso converted on the three-point play, giving Cascade a 63-56 lead with 2:24 on the clock. 

The Lions were able to generate one final push, going on a 7-2 spurt over the next 1:24 to trim the lead back down to three points with a minute to go. As the clock ticked under 60 seconds, Cascade looked content to play keepaway until an expected foul, but Tristin Billings was unable to pass up a wide-open three-point attempt with 45 seconds to go, giving the ball back to the Lions with a chance to tie. 

Jared Nave called timeout after Cascade nearly forced a turnover with 32.6 on the timer, but Cooper McElroy jumped the intended pass from Phillips to Garrett, prompting a foul with 19.1 remaining. McElroy split a pair, giving the Champions a 67-63 lead. 

Alexander finished a layup in traffic on the other end to trim the lead back down to two points, 67-65, with 10.9 on the clock followed by a quick Lions timeout to stop the clock. Coming out of the timeout, Cascade got the ball into the hands of Henry Stone – an 80% free throw shooter – but despite missing both, Lara’s heave at the horn came up well short to secure the upset win for the Champions.

Cascade improves to 12-7 overall. The Champions are scheduled to host No. 5 Summertown in a rescheduled District 9-AA contest on Thursday night for homecoming, LIVE on The Zinger 100.9 and AM 1400 at 5:45 p.m.

Cascade:  Kelso 20 (2), Stone 19 (3), Rodgers 12 (1), McElroy 11 (1), Billings 7 (1), Pilkington 5.

Cannon County:  Lara 24 (4), Phillips 15,  Alexander 14, Hatfield 4, Garrett 2, Walkup 2, Alford 1.