BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. – The Cascade Lady Champions (8-2) came back from eight points down in the second half to win against Murfreesboro Central Magnet (6-3) and extend their winning streak to four games, 51-47, on Monday night.

Janie Demonbreum’s squad won their fourth-straight game for the first time since the 2018-19 season when Cascade – under Rece Chumley – started the season 6-0 and also won seven straight to close the regular season.

Kaegan Young finished with a game-high 21 points, including 13 in the second half and finishing 8/9 at the free throw line to close out the Lady Tigers. Lizzie Keele found the range from deep, nailing four three-pointers and helping the Lady Champs regain control late in the second half. As a team, Cascade connected on a season-high 11 three-pointers.

Lizzie Keele (11) lays in two of her 14 points during Monday's win over Murfreesboro Central Magnet.

David Smith

Meanwhile, for Murfreesboro Central Magnet, Madisen Stanley finished with a team-high 11 points despite dealing with foul trouble all game and eventually fouling out with about two minutes left in the fourth quarter. Norah Clancy, Clara Johnson, and Lily Stuible all chipped in with eight points apiece to keep the visitors close.

Early on, Cascade looked a bit sluggish, trailing by two points, 9-7, at the end of the first quarter. The hosts were able to take the lead heading into the halftime locker room by outscoring the Lady Tigers, 13-9, in the second quarter, but the game still felt unnecessarily tight from the Lady Champions point of view.

“We could not find any type of energy in that first half,” Demonbreum said, “and I think that was the difference for us in the first and the second halves. We play off of our energy – when we are able to get up a little bit and put some pressure on people, that’s when we’re at our best, and we just didn’t have that in the first half. Credit to Central Magnet too, they were hitting some shots early on that in the games that we watch they are not making, and sometimes that’s just what happens, so you’ve gotta deal with it.”

In the third quarter, Central Magnet jumped out on a 9-0 run to lead by as many as eight points, 28-20. However, Young came up with the goods, nailing a three-pointer to stop the run and allow the Lady Champions to regain momentum against the visitors’ zone. After another Cascade three-pointer trimmed the lead to two points, both teams traded three-pointers back and forth in a flurry that lasted for about the next two minutes or so, ending with the Lady Tigers holding a 36-32 lead as the clock wound down. Before the buzzer sounded, Young came up with a steal at half-court with five seconds left, allowing her to trim the lead to 36-34 heading into the final frame.

“They went zone against us, and I thought we looked a lot better against the zone than we have in the past, so there’s growth there,” Demonbreum said, “We were able to force some turnovers as well, and we knew that we were going to have to get them in some foul trouble with how physical they play and we were able to do that too.”

In the fourth quarter, Cascade seemed to take control of the game after Keele nailed back-to-back three pointers, but the Lady Tigers would not quit. Despite Young nailing her first eight free throws to put the game out of reach, Central Magnet tacked on a few late three-pointers to keep things interesting before ultimately falling, 51-47.

Cascade improves to 8-2 overall. The Lady Champions head to Gatlinburg for the Smoky Mountain Christmas Classic beginning on Thursday with their first game coming against Ridgeview (VA) at 4:00 p.m.