WINCHESTER, Tenn. – The Cascade Lady Champions (0-1) held a slim lead for the majority of Tuesday’s Hall of Fame matchup at Franklin County (1-0), but were unable to hold on late, falling 45-42 in the season opener. 

Kaegan Young, who signed with UT Southern over the summer, led all scorers with 20 points on 8/13 shooting, ending the night reaching the 1,000 career-point mark in the process. She is the second Lady Champion to score 1,000 points under Janie Demonbreum, the first being Sophie Ray a season ago. Lizzie Keele chipped in with eight points as well. 

For Franklin County, Kenzie Arnold led the way with a team-high 12 points, including ten in the second half. Gracen Baggett added 10 points of her own, as did Jaelyn Ritchie. 

Kaegan Young (22) scores two of her game-high 20 points at Franklin County on Tuesday night.

David Smith

Cascade jumped out to an early lead, but the Rebeletes were able to tie the game at 12 going into the second quarter. In that second quarter, the Lady Champs outscored the hosts by two points, heading into the halftime locker room with a 21-19 lead.

In the third quarter, Young scored seven of the 12 points for the Lady Champions, extending Cascade’s lead to 33-29 heading into the final frame. She would also score six of her team’s nine total points, but ultimately Franklin County forced just enough turnovers that led to easy layups to take their first lead of the night since early in the first quarter, 43-42, with 1:33 left to play. 

Cascade was the beneficiary of missed free throws in crucial spots by the Rebelettes, and had a chance to tie the game with less than ten seconds left. Demonbreum drew up a play to get Suzanna Crews a corner three, but her shot was off to the left. Even after Na’Kayjah Holman missed a pair with five seconds, Cascade was unable to get a better shot than a half-court heave that landed harmless on the hardwood, preserving the Franklin County win, 45-42.

Franklin County improves to 1-0 and travels to Battle Ground Academy on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

Cascade falls to 0-1. The Lady Champions are scheduled to host Eagleville for their home-opener at 6:00 p.m. LIVE on WZNG The Zinger 100.9 and AM 1400.