BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. – The short-handed Cascade Lady Champions (17-5, 4-0) managed to create just enough second-half separation against Summertown (14-7, 2-2) to come away with a bounce-back win, 44-40, inside The Stable on Thursday night.

Kaegan Young scored 11 of her game-high 18 points in the second half, Lizzie Keele knocked in two massive three-pointers en route to nine points while holding Summertown’s Ella Busby scoreless in the second half, and the Lady Champions held on despite a woeful 12-of-26 at the free throw line.

“After Tuesday, all the coaches looked at each other and said that we didn't have any fire,” Lady Champions Head Coach Janie Demonbreum said postgame, “There was no intensity in our defense, we weren't getting the deflections – we’re averaging 14 deflections per game and we only had seven on Tuesday – and we have to go back to doing the things that have made us successful. We only had six assists at Cannon County while last Friday against Chapel Hill, Lexi [Comstock] had seven assists herself. Our conversation after Tuesday was that we have to go back to us.” 

The Lady Champions managed to go back just enough following Tuesday’s uncharacteristic loss at Cannon County, holding the Lady Eagles to just 13 points in the second and third quarters combined. 

Cascade endured their own offensive struggles all night, in part due to the absence of a knockdown shooter off the bench in Jade Tolar, who was experiencing flu-like symptoms after shootaround. Tolar had been coming on recently, ranked third on the team shooting 39% from downtown in Cascade’s previous seven games heading into Thursday.

“She came in a little late to school today and thought that she could make it through,” Demonbreum said, “She went through our shootaround, and then shortly after she asked me to take her temperature. We missed her for sure.”

Cascade finished just 2-for-14 from outside the arc with both threes coming from Keele later in the third quarter. Summertown finished shooting 5-of-23 from downtown for the game. 

With the game tied up at 24 apiece, Keele found some room in the corner against Summertown’s zone, knocking in her first triple with 2:38 left in the third quarter to give Cascade its first lead of the night, 27-24. A few possessions later following a Summertown backcourt violation, Keele nailed her second triple, this time from the right wing with 1:18 to go to double the Lady Champs’ lead. 

Tess Long responded with a shooter’s roll three-pointer, but Cascade still held a three-point lead, 30-27, heading into the final frame.

The Lady Eagles managed to cut the lead to just a single point in the fourth, but then Kaegan Young drew Ella Busby’s fourth foul on an and-one to give Cascade a 34-31 lead with 4:46 to go. Busby would finish with zero points in the second half after scoring eight in the first 16 minutes thanks to the lockdown on-ball defense from Keele.

“It’s just understanding your scouting report,” said Demonbreum,”We spend a lot of time as a coaching staff dissecting film, and the reports that we give our girls are extremely detailed. Reading those time and time again and understanding what that person does best, and Lizzie [Keele] knew what Busby did best, and that was the drive. We knew we had to keep Busby in front, we couldn’t let her get to the elbow, and Lizzie did such a great job. She’s done a great job all year long defensively against some of the best in the state, and she’s only a sophomore.”

Cascade’s lead quickly grew to its largest of the night, 38-31, with Busby on the bench at the halfway point of the fourth quarter thanks to a personal 7-0 run from Young. However, the Lady Eagles mounted one final rally, trimming the lead back down to 39-36 with about a minute to play before Caroline Parker all but put the game away with a clutch layup inside to give the hosts a two possession lead.

Parker finished with eight points for the Lady Champions, countering the eight second-half points from Summertown’s Gabi Long as well as the team-high 13 points from El-lee-lu Mason.

Early on, Summertown took a 14-11 lead at the end of the first quarter, setting the tone with the Lady Eagles methodical and deliberate style of play. In the second quarter, Cascade trimmed the lead down to two points, 20-18, heading into the halftime locker room.

In the third quarter, the Lady Champs maintained their high-octane defense, outscoring Summertown, 12-7, to take the aforementioned three-point lead, 30-27, heading into the fourth.

The Lady Champions improve to 17-5 overall, and move into sole possession of first place in District 9-AA with four games to go. Cascade is scheduled to travel to non-district foe, Huntland, on Tuesday, weather permitting. Cascade returns to district play next Friday with a road trip to Loretto, LIVE on The Zinger 100.9 and AM 1400 at 5:45 p.m.

CASCADE: Young 18, Keele 9 (2), Parker 8, Laughlin 4, Comstock 4, Crews.

SUMMERTOWN: Mason 13 (2), Busby 8 (1), G. Long 8 (1), Bonner 6 (1), T. Long 4, Brown 2, Franks, Garland.