UNIONVILLE — All season long, the Cascade Champions have had a series of goals, including winning a regular season and tournament title.
On Saturday night, the Champions (22-7) checked that latest goal off their list as they convincingly defeated host Community, 76-45.
One of the biggest positives for Cascade, according to coach Chris Lawson, wasn’t just the star power from the starters, but the guys off the bench who are starting to round into their roles at the right time of the season.
“I felt like tonight, one of the differences of us playing really well and not playing well is we had some guys come in off the bench that brought a little bit of scoring and rebounding,” he said.
Cascade exerted its will on the Vikings through the entirety of the four quarters.
After opening the game on a 5-0 run, Community rallied for six-straight points to take a slim 6-5 lead with 5:27 left in the opening quarter.
Cascade answered on a layup by Jackson Davis after he came up with a steal against the Vikings.
Cascade didn’t trail again.
“Cascade came in and just wanted it more than we did. They gave a championship effort and executed their game plan to perfection and deserve to be district champs,” Viking coach Robbie Davis said.
After taking a one-point lead with 5:27 to go in the first, Community (14-15) managed just two more points in the quarter—a pair of free throws by Stratton Lovvorn and a layup by freshman Jason Cullum.
While shots just wouldn’t fall for Community, Cascade saw an issue of its own creep up in the first quarter, with starters Saebyn Burris and Justis Carter both picking up two fouls in the frame, which forced Lawson to turn to the bench.
But the depth on the Champs’ roster proved valuable as Zach Crosslin, Chance Brown and Isaac McElroy all contributed from points on the board, to rebounds, to key defensive effort.
“There’s been a few times they’ve gotten down on themselves. I’ve just tried to continuously encourage them. Shots will fall, you’ll get a chance, things will go your way. I have to give them credit. They show up every day, work hard and do everything that’s asked of them. They gave us a huge lift,” Lawson said.
Cascade relied on the efforts of Jackson Davis in the second quarter.
Of his game-high 24 points, Davids went for 10 in the second quarter by fighting his way to the rim, drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line.
“Jackson is so crafty. He’s tough to guard, especially when you set ball screens for him. Most of the time, if you’ve got three guys that all have to be guarded, and for us, I think we have seven or eight guys that have to be guarded. Tonight, I think that’s where that kind of showed up. Jackson played well, then we had three or four other ones—it’s just a tough matchup for anybody,” Lawson said.
Community on the other hand continued to struggle with offensive consistency.
Five different Vikings scored in the second, but all five were held to just two points in the quarter.
By halftime, Cascade had built a 15-point lead, largely in part to the effort on the defensive end of the court.
“Defensively, as far as our game plan, it was executed no matter who we put in. We held them 45 points. That’s what I’m most happy with at this time of the year, everybody is engaged and we’re able to execute, especially on the defensive end," Lawson said.
In the third quarter, Brown knocked down a pair of key 3-pointers to help spur on a 22-point Champion quarter, while Crosslin gave Cascade big minutes in the paint.
“Tonight, I’m so happy to see Zach Crosslin and Chance Brown to play the way they played. They gave us a huge lift,” Lawson said.
Throughout the third quarter, Community continued to struggle with consistency on the offensive end of the court and got just one catch and shoot 3-pointer by Lovvorn with 1:18 to go in the quarter.
Lovvorn was limited in his time on the court after picking up his fourth foul with 6:10 left in the quarter.
While offense was still limited for the Vikings, Maki Fleming did his job in getting to the line and stopping the clock in the fourth quarter.
Although Fleming went 5-for-6 in the quarter, Cascade closed out the game with a 19-point fourth quarter effort to secure the first district tournament title with Lawson at the helm.
Nine different Champions scored in the District 7-AA championship game, with Davis’ 24 points leading all scorers.
Clanton chipped in 14 points, while Thomas Gentry added 11.
As a team, Cascade connected on seven treys in the game, with Brown knocking down three.
Fleming was the lone Viking to reach double figures as he led the Vikings with 11 points.
While the 7-AA title went to the Champions, both Community and Cascade will host Region 4-AA quarterfinal games on Saturday.
“Playing that first-round game at home is so important. Our goal is to get to the final 32. We have some good character kids on our team and I know they will respond well this week in practice. You will see a different intensity from us on Saturday night,” Davis said.
For Lawson and the Champions, it’s a week of adjustments on deck as Cascade prepares for a different style of basketball in the upcoming region tournament.
“We have to get refocused and start talking about going through the region tournament. We’ll kind of work on how we want to play those teams. It’s a little bit different style of basketball, with those teams coming from the other district in our region. We’re going to have to get prepared and come up with a game plan for them,” Lawson said.
Both Cascade and Community will host the Region 4-AA quarterfinals in an elimination round of the postseason on Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Community 10 10 13 12 — 45
Cascade 18 17 22 19 — 76

Community: Maki Fleming 11, Stratton Lovvorn 9, Cole Crockett 8, Jason Cullum 6, Landon Lovvorn 5, Trace Broiles 2, Ramone Hernandez, Jacob Flanagan 2.
Cascade: Jackson Davis 24, Lucas Clanton 14, Thomas Gentry 11, Chance Brown 9, Justis Carter 5, Saebyn Burris 4, Isaac McElroy 3, Zach Crosslin 3, Jayden Gulick 3.
3-Point goals: Cascade (7): Brown 3, Gentry 2, Clanton, Gulick; Community (2): S. Lovvorn, L. Lovvorn.
Halftime score: Cascade 35, Community 20.