BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. - The Cascade Champions jumped out to an 18-2 lead within the first three minutes of Friday night’s non-district matchup with the Huntland Hornets en route to an impressive 85-38 home victory.

Cascade’s Kaleb Kelso led all scorers with 24 points, and his backcourt mate, Jason Cullum, finished with 21 points of his own. Cullum and Kelso scored 21 and 18 of their points in the first half, respectively, and combined to connect on 11 three-pointers. Cascade as a team shot a season-high 16/34 from behind the arc, and shot 53.4% from the field overall. Tyler Barrett also finished in double figures with 11 points, and Tyler Rodgers and Preston Dunn each scored nine points apiece. 

Jason Cullum (3) connects on one of his six 1H three-pointers in Friday's win.

David Smith

For Huntland, they were faced with a nearly impossible task after losing the program’s long-time head coach, Sean McLennan, after he stepped down due to health reasons on Friday morning. McLennan finished with a record of 123-170 in his 11 seasons with the Hornets and led the team to two district titles and two regional championships in addition to a pair of sub-state berths. Colton Roberts stepped into his place as the interim head coach for this game and for the rest of the season, but ultimately the Hornets had no match for Cascade’s three-point barrage.  

Ellis Stewart was the only Hornet to finish in double-figures with 11 points on the night. Kannon Lafevers chipped in with eight points, all coming in the second half.

Cascade jumped out to a 25-8 lead at the end of the opening period, coming out hot from the perimeter following their home loss to Eagleville three days prior where they struggled to connect from behind the arc. 

In the second quarter, Jason Cullum continued the hot shooting for the Champions, leading the team with 21 points and six made three-pointers going into the halftime locker room. Cascade outscored Huntland, 30-9, in the period, taking a commanding 55-17 lead to end the first half. 

In the third quarter, it was more of the same with Cascade continuing to turn defense into offense. The hosts turned 27 Huntland turnovers, including 16 steals, into a whopping 40 points on the night, and they took a 74-31 lead into the final frame after outscoring the Hornets, 19-14, in the third quarter.

The result was a formality at this point in the game, but Cascade still won the fourth quarter, 11-7, en route to the 85-38 final score. It is by far the most points Cascade has scored in a game this season, and it is their largest margin of victory of the year as well.

Huntland falls to 0-10 on the season.

Cascade improves to 6-4 overall on the year, and will travel to Murfreesboro Central Magnet on Monday night, LIVE on The Zinger 100.9 starting at 5:45 p.m.