GATLINBURG, Tenn. – The Cascade Lady Champions (11-2) drew 44 fouls against the Johnson Central Golden Eagles (KY) in a 69-56 comeback win on Friday afternoon at the Smoky Mountain Christmas Classic.

The Golden Eagles (5-1) had five players foul out – including four of their five starters – in an extremely physical contest that saw Cascade register just 25 officially attempted shots due to all the free throws. 

Kaegan Young (22) shoots one of her 32 attempted free throws in Friday's win over Johnson Central (KY) at the Smokey Mountain Christmas Classic. Young finished with a game-high 28 points on 23 made free throws.

Submitted Photo

Kaegan Young led the way with a game-high 28 points for the Lady Champions, finishing an astonishing 23/32 at the free throw line and just 2/5 from the field. Young helped turn a one-point Cascade lead at the end of the third quarter, 46-45, into a 13-point victory after going 10/12 at the line in the final period alone to go along with a clutch three-pointer. Lexi Comstock, Jocelyn Laughlin, and Caroline Parker all added 11 points while Lizzie Keele chipped in with eight points. Suzanna Crews, a usual starter, did not play due to an illness.

For Johnson Central, Emma McKenzie nailed four first-half threes en route to a team-high 14 points, but she was one of the five Golden Eagles who was eventually disqualified in the second half due to accumulating five fouls. Overall, Cascade held Johnson Central to just 39% FG shooting, and the Golden Eagles attempted just 14 free throws, making 13 of them.

Johnson Central took a 17-13 lead after the opening period after McKenzie nailed a trio of triples combined with Emma Ferguson scoring all six of her points in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the fouls began to rapidly accumulate, resulting in Cascade shooting 14 free throws. Young went 9/10 at the line by herself, Keele added a big three, and Comstock scored a couple of layups to bring Cascade within just a single point heading into the halftime locker room, trailing 32-31.

To start the second half, the Golden Eagles began to work their way to the line themselves, finishing 10/10 at the charity stripe to stay within arm’s length heading into the final frame trailing by just one point, 46-45. 

In the fourth quarter, Cascade began to benefit from all the foul trouble accumulated by the Golden Eagles, pulling away late by nailing 15/22 free throws as all but one of Johnson Central’s starters were relegated to the bench by fouling out. 

Cascade improves to 11-2 overall.