LYNNVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 3 ranked Cascade Lady Champions (16-4, 3-0) were unable to overcome a 27-point night from No. 1 ranked Richland’s Class A Miss Basketball favorite, Bailey Blair, in a 64-50 loss on the road to the Lady Raiders (14-2, 3-0).

After dominating Richland in the first matchup back on December 9th, 53-38, the Lady Champions simply ran out of gas in the fourth quarter on the second night of a back-to-back as the Lady Raiders outscored the visitors, 17-8, in the final period. 

Blair finished with a game-high 27 points on a dazzling display of offensive prowess. She also pulled down five rebounds and came away with three steals. Mary Avery McNeese was the only other Lady Raider to reach double-figures, finishing with 12 points and five rebounds. As a team, Richland crushed Cascade on the boards, outrebounding the Lady Champs, 31-18, and they only turned the ball 10 times.

Lizzie Keele (11) and Lexi Comstock (12) look to double-team Richland's Bailey Blair (10) in Saturday's non-district loss. Blair finished with a game-high 27 points for the Lady Raiders.

David Smith

Meanwhile, Cascade’s own Class AA Miss Basketball candidate, Kaegan Young, reached the 20-point mark once again, finishing with 20 points to go along with four assists and three steals. Lizzie Keele added 15 points, including a trio of second-half three-pointers to keep Cascade within striking distance. Keele also added seven rebounds and three assists on the night. 

Early on, Cascade actually jumped out to a six-point lead, 18-12, at the end of the opening period of play. Caroline Parker and Jocelyn Laughlin nailed a couple of three-pointers, and the Lady Champions as a team finished with 10 makes from downtown. However, the visitors were only able to generate 14 points in the paint, and the Lady Raiders took advantage of Cascade going cold from outside in the second quarter to take a 29-28 lead heading into the locker room.

Coming out for the second half, Richland began to pull away from a tiring Lady Champions squad, ultimately outscoring the visitors, 18-14, to take a five-point lead, 47-42, heading into the final frame.

Despite Keele connecting on another triple to open the fourth, Richland held Cascade scoreless for the next four-and-a-half minutes, landing a knockout blow and growing  its lead to 58-45 with 2:36 remaining. 

The hosts were able to close out the win from there, earning a season-split against Cascade and picking up their sixth-consecutive win on the year. 

The Lady Champions fall to 16-4 overall. Cascade travels to Woodbury to take on non-district foe Cannon County on Tuesday night, LIVE on The Zinger 100.9 and AM 1400 starting at 5:45 p.m.