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Lady Tigers too much for Lady Champs

By WILL CARTER ~ Sports Writer
Posted 1/24/23

BELL BUCKLE — The Cascade Lady Champions couldn’t keep the Fayetteville City Lady Tigers out of the paint or off the free throw line on Friday night as the Lady Tigers knocked down 21 …

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Lady Tigers too much for Lady Champs

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BELL BUCKLE — The Cascade Lady Champions couldn’t keep the Fayetteville City Lady Tigers out of the paint or off the free throw line on Friday night as the Lady Tigers knocked down 21 free throws in their 62-32 win over the Lady Champions. 
The Lady Champions (1-16) couldn’t find their rhythm offensively early on in the contest as only Sophie Ray and Kaydence Miller were able to notch first quarter points with a free throw and three-pointer respectively as the Lady Tigers (5-9) took a 12-4 lead after one quarter. 
Trinity Dixon started out the game on fire for Fayetteville as she dropped seven first quarter points.
“Last time we played them, it was a running clock, so we’re closing the gap defensively.” Lady Champs head coach Janie Demonbreum said. “We’re throwing different stuff at the girls each week with different types of defenses, and they're picking it up well. Now we have to close the gap offensively.”
Cascade got things started in the second frame when Isabella Rhodes found some space in the paint for a layup just 20 seconds in, but Fayetteville took over from there going on a 12-1 run over the next five minutes. 
Kaegan Young broke free for a layup at the two-minute mark to stop the run, and knocked down a three-pointer a minute later to total six points in the quarter. 
At the half the Lady Tigers held a 29-15 lead. 
It was all Fayetteville in the third quarter as they jumped out on a 5-0 run over the first two and a half minutes to extend their lead to 19 before Sophie Ray hit a layup for Cascade to put a stop to it. 
But they got hot again and went on an 8-0 run to push their lead to 25 which forced Demonbreum to use a timeout with three minutes and 13 seconds left in the quarter.
The Lady Champions gave up only four points for the remainder of the frame, but could only muster two more of their own via another Ray layup.
“We just need to play more confidently. We come out a little tense at times at the start of the game,” Demonbreum said. “In the first and third quarters, I don’t think we took that many shots. We find a groove, but then we’ll lose it. That’s been the story of this season.”
In the final frame, the Lady Tigers continued to find creases in the defense and go to the free throw line for nine of their 16 points in the quarter. 
Despite the large deficit, the Lady Champions were able to find a slight groove on the offensive end as totaled 13 points to close out the game. 
Laina Carter knocked two three-pointers for all six of her points in the final frame. 
Cascade will open next week on the road Tuesday night as they travel to Watertown to take on the Purple Tigers with tipoff set for 6 p.m.

Fayetteville 12 17 17 16 — 62
Cascade 4 11 4 13 — 32

Fayetteville: Trinity Dixon 12, Elly Bain 11, Autumn Nunemaker 10, Gracie Hoagland 8, Amirricle Clark 5, Te’Asia Ewing 5, Bella Martin 4, Kayden Parks 3, Lillie Smith 2. 
Cascade: Kaegan Young 9, Sophie Ray 7, Laina Carter 6, Suzanna Crews 3, Kaydence Miller 3, Hailey Giel 2, Isabella Rhodes 2. 
3-point goals: Fayetteville (3): Dixon 2, Parks.; Cascade (5): Carter 2, Crews, Miller, Young.
Halftime Score: Fayetteville 29, Cascade 15.