Isaa McElroy scored a career-high 36 points as the Cascade Champions held off a furious rally from the Community Vikings to win the District 9-AA Consolation game, 69-61, on Friday.
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The third and final Battle of Bedford on the hardwood ended with Cascade taking the season series, 69-61, to finish in third place in District 9-AA behind a career-high 36 points from senior Isaac McElroy on Friday.
McElroy’s right wing three-pointer with just under two minutes to go put the Champions ahead for good, 61-58, after Community had erased a double-digit Cascade lead earlier in the fourth quarter. Both teams traded nifty baskets for a 2-3 minute stretch, with a Cascade layup on one end being matched by an equally impressive bucket for the Vikings in response.
After McElroy’s big three, Landon Berman would try to respond with a quick three of his own. When Berman’s shot clanged off the rim into Sabeyn Burris’ hands underneath the basket, Community immediately fouled. This allowed Burris to push the tournament hosts’ lead to two possessions with about a minute and a half left in the game, and the Vikings never got any closer. After being tied at 58, Cascade closed on an 11-3 run in the final two minutes as Community just could not find any answers offensively.
McElroy paced Cascade with a career-high 36 points, Saebyn Burris chipped in with 13 points, and Tyler Rodgers scored a career-high 10 points of his own while playing stifling defense.
Community was led by Landon Berman and Landon Lovvorn with 11 points apiece. Charlie Haskins scored 10 points, and Maki Fleming chipped in with nine points of his own.
McElroy started the scoring early, putting in nine points in the opening frame. Alongside six points from his running mate Saebyn Burris, Cascade took a 20-17 lead to end the first quarter.
The scoring would slow down only momentarily with McElroy adding seven points in the second, to give him 16 points at halftime and give his team a 35-29 lead going into the break. Tyler Rodgers, despite shooting just 13% from three all season, nailed his only two attempts from downtown in the first half while playing excellent defense on Fleming, frustrating the Community star all night long.
Both sides would hold steady in the third quarter, with McElroy scoring nine of his team’s 13 points as they maintained their six point lead into the final frame, 48-42.
However, Community still had some fight left in them. The Vikings went on a 12-6 run to open the quarter to tie the game at 54 with just under five minutes left, setting the stage for a scintillating finish. The teams traded a pair of baskets for the next three minutes until McElroy’s massive three-pointer gave Cascade the lead for good.
The Champions would close out the game at the free throw line, sending the Vikings to fourth place and securing the season series, 2-1, in the Battle of Bedford.
Community falls to 12-16 (4-4) and will travel to District 10-AA Champions Summertown for the Region 5-AA Quarterfinal on Saturday night with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Cascade improves to 12-16 (4-4) and will travel to Loretto for the Region 5-AA Quarterfinal on Saturday night, LIVE on WZNG The Zinger 100.9 and AM 1400 starting at 6:45 p.m.
