BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. – After the first ‘Battle of Bedford’ meeting ended with 156 points scored combined on Jan. 13, some fans might have been expecting a similar output on Tuesday night. Instead, they saw Cascade (14-9, 3-3) slowly but surely pull away to complete the season sweep over the Community Vikings (13-8, 2-3), 60-52, on Senior Night.

“I thought our guys did a very good job tonight defensively,” Champions’ Head Coach Doug Worsley said postgame, “We were a little slow on a couple of handoffs and we fell asleep in transition after scoring a couple of times from celebrating too much, and credit to them for seeing that on tape and taking advantage of it, but I thought we did a good job keeping them out of the paint. When they did get there, I thought we walled up well, and other than getting a little too enthusiastic about trying to block a shot, we didn’t foul them a ton. We did a good job – especially late in the game – being unselfish. We were looking to get the shot, not a shot.”

The Vikings had not taken the court for live game action since Jan. 20 against Chapel Hill, but Hunter Ferrell’s squad managed to stay within two points heading into halftime before Cascade pulled ahead in the third quarter.

“I think we rushed some decisions, rushed some passes…we did a lot of things really well in the first quarter, and you hope that continues on as they see the success in the things that we planned and practiced for, but we’ve got to quit beating ourselves,” Ferrell said, “In the final three quarters, every time we’d try to get something going we’d turn it over or take a shot we don’t want to take or don’t execute something you’re hoping to execute.”

“Cascade is a really good team, and Coach Worsley does a really good job, and they let us beat ourselves. It was kind of like we were walking in a field of rakes where it seems as soon as you find some clear space, you think you’re good but instead you step on another one. That’s what it felt like tonight.”

After scoring 32 points in the first meeting between these two, Community’s Charlie Haskins was held to just 14 points for the game as Cascade ramped up the defensive pressure and intensity.

Community's Charlie Haskins (3, black) attempts to lay the ball in with Cascade's Ryder Pilkington (15) on the contest. Haskins finished with 14 points in the losing effort.

David Smith

“The message was keep him [Haskins] in front of you, he’s going to put his head down and go, we’ve got to have help, and once we’ve got him stopped, we have to wall him up because he’s extremely crafty,” said Worsley, “There were some shots that he made in the first game that he didn’t make tonight. 

For Cascade, Henry Stone led all scorers with a game-high 18 points, Cooper McElroy bounced back from illness with a 17-point performance, and Kaleb Kelso tacked on 12 points for good measure.

Outside of Haskins, the Vikings got 13 points from Josh Powers as well as 11 points from Johnathan Lawwell. 11 of Powers’ 13 points came in the first half. 

Early on, both teams managed to generate some sort of flow in the first quarter, resulting in the two teams ending the opening period level at 17-all. Powers scored eight of the Vikings’ first 11 points on a pair of triples.

In the second quarter, Cascade tightened the screws a bit defensively, taking a two-point lead into the break, 31-29, after outscoring Community, 14-12, in the period.

Coming out for the second half, Cascade managed to maintain the defensive aggression while ramping up the offensive output, resulting in the hosts outscoring the visitors, 16-10, to take a 47-39 lead heading into the final frame. 

As the fourth quarter wound on, Haskins’ attempts to give Community hope for a late rally were dashed by Henry Stone’s backbreaking drives to the basket. Haskins finished with 10 points in the second half, but Stone countered with nine points of his own after halftime to spur on the Champions. 

As a team, Community struggled from the free throw line, finishing 14-of-25 from the stripe for the game. As a result, the two teams finished the fourth quarter even at 13 apiece, resulting in the eight-point victory for Cascade.

“We talked about it in the locker room pregame, it's a big crowd, it’s a rivalry, it’s Senior Night, so let’s keep our heads and stay focused on what we’re doing,” concluded Worsley, “I didn’t think we did a great job of that at their place, but I thought we took care of the basketball tonight and boxed out well. There was more laser focus on doing the little things.”

Community falls to 13-8 overall. The Vikings travel to Loretto on Friday before traveling to Summertown on Saturday. Both tip-offs are scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Cascade snaps a two-game skid, improving to 14-9 overall. The Champions hit the road for a trip to Chapel Hill on Friday night, LIVE on The Zinger 100.9 and AM 1400 at 5:45 p.m.

CASCADE: H. Stone 18 (1), C. McElroy 17 (3), K. Kelso 12 (1) T. Billings 8, T. Rodgers 4, R. Pilkington 1.

COMMUNITY: C. Haskins 14 (1), J. Powers 13 (3), J. Lawwell 11, M. Hill 5 (1), J. Williams 5, K. Boyce 2.