BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. – Despite a valiant effort for four quarters, the No. 3 seed Cascade Champions (15-12, 4-4) came up just short in pulling off the upset over No. 2 seed Summertown (20-5, 6-2), falling 49-46 on Friday night.

“I like the way we still competed even though some things went against us,” said Champs’ head coach Doug Worsley, “We failed to knock some shots down, and we failed to box out and retrieve the ball on a rebound every possession. When you’re playing a team that has been ranked all year, you almost have to be perfect. For a good portion of that game, we did what we were supposed to do. I told the kids to have fun, enjoy it, this is what you’ve been battling all year for. It didn’t finish the way we wanted, but we are not done yet. We still have Saturday, and then a week from Saturday. Those are two guarantees.” 

Cascade had two decent looks from outside the arc in the final 15 seconds from a pair of set plays, but unfortunately for the Champions, neither look would go down. 

First, with 15.1 seconds to go and the ball inbounded from the right sideline trailing by two, 48-46, Worsley drew up a play to get Cooper McElroy, who had hit three treys already as part of his 13-point night, a look from the left-wing. Henry Stone found Kaleb Kelso cutting to the basket before he kicked the ball into the corner to Tyler Rodgers, who swung it one more time up to McElroy on the wing. McElroy’s shot looked good, but it glanced off the back iron before clipping the front of the rim. Stone rebounded the miss, trying to tie the game on a putback, but his layup would not fall, and Graham Howell was finally fouled on the rebound with 4.6 seconds to go.

“I initially thought Stone was fouled on his putback attempt,” said Worsley postgame.

Howell, a 55% free throw shooter on the year, split a pair at the line, giving Cascade one final chance to send the game into overtime. 

Having to go 65 feet, Kelso caught the ball on the run, taking a pair of dribbles before finding McElroy coming off a screen in the right corner for a fadeaway three-pointer, but it came up just short as the buzzer sounded.

“Both of those set plays at the end were just like we practiced, so I can’t complain,” Worsley said, “We got what we wanted from both of them, they just didn’t go down.”

This game was close from the opening tap, and neither team held a lead larger than six points all night. Early on, it was Cascade who managed to take a 14-12 lead at the end of the opening period. In the second, Summertown managed to tie the game at 23 heading into the halftime locker room despite some uncharacteristic misses from the painted area. Henry Stone and Cooper McElroy led Cascade at the break with eight points apiece.

Coming out for the second half, both teams scored 13 points in the third quarter as there was very little to separate the two sides. Entering the final frame tied at 36, the Eagles opened the fourth with a 6-0 mini-run punctuated by a tough finish by Sawyer Sherman, and they held the Champions scoreless for the first four minutes of the period to take the largest lead of the night for either team, 42-36.

However, the Champions fought back with a 8-0 of their own, starting with Kelso’s putback to stop the bleeding. Then, after getting a stop, Kelso knocked down a massive three-pointer with 2:47 to go from the left wing, trimming the lead back down to one point, 42-41. Finally, McElroy found Rodgers in the corner for his only made three-pointer of the night, putting Cascade back in front, 44-42, with 2:14 to go.

Lleyton Sherman responded on the ensuing possession with a stepback three of his own to put the Eagles back in front, 45-44, but then Stone’s layup gave Cascade the lead again at 46-45 with 1:36 remaining. Sherman once again scored for Summertown on a driving layup to give the Eagles the lead for good this time with 1:15 to go. Cascade’s two set plays would not go down, and Summertown survived to advance to the championship game.

Cascade falls to 15-12 overall. The Champions host Community on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in the District 9-AA Consolation Game. 

CASCADE: C. McElroy 15 (3), H. Stone 10, K. Kelso 7 (1), R. Pilkington 6, T. Rodgers 5 (1). T. Billings 2. 

SUMMERTOWN: S. Sherman 16, L. Sherman 14 (3), G. Howell 7, R. Blackwood 5 (1), M. Dillard 3.