BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. – No. 3 seed Community (15-13, 4-4) managed to pull away late against No. 1 seed Cascade (21-8, 7-1) to take a 51-37 win in the District 9-AA consolation game on Saturday afternoon in the third ‘Battle of Bedford’ matchup this season.

There was also a bit of record-breaking that took place during the game, as Cascade superstar senior and Class AA Miss Basketball Finalist, Kaegan Young, became the new all-time career scoring leader in Cascade history, surpassing Mark Gilmore’s 45-year old record of 1,495 points after her 20-point outing on Saturday. With at least one game remaining in her career, Young now sits at 1,506 career points, becoming the first Cascade Champion or Lady Champion to reach the 1,500 points mark.

“It’s a lot to take in. I’m just really thankful,” Young said postgame, “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates and coaches and trainers. I wouldn’t be anything I am today without them. I want to thank God for giving me the opportunity and the talent, and all the connections that’s brought with it. The love for the game goes so far beyond the record, it’s just a sport that just keeps on giving.”

Despite her 20-point afternoon, the Viqueens managed to control the game defensively, despite missing starting point guard Mattie Maxey after suffering a left leg injury in the D9-AA semifinal against Loretto. Community was also even in the turnover department with both teams committing 14 turnovers.

“This was just a great team win. Our girls played hard, they did their job tonight overall,” Viqueens head coach Cody Pierce said postgame, “We did a great job against their pressure. The press hurt us against Loretto, but now that we knew the situation we were in, the girls were ready to play. Sara Flannagan and Madisyn Hill both stepped up and were a huge part of that game, and we didn’t let the press bother us as much.”

The Viqueens were led by Alyssa White through the first three quarters as she finished with a team-high 17 points and six rebounds. Savannah Pearson connected on a trio of three-pointers in the first half to finish with nine points, and Madisyn Hill scored eight points with seven rebounds  and went 5-of-6 at the free throw line.

Despite Young finishing with 20 points and nine rebounds, the Viqueens made every touch and every shot extremely difficult. The District 9-AA MVP made four threes, but she went 4-of-14 (28%) from the field, which actually turned out to be a better percentage than what the Lady Champs shot from the floor as a team (20%). Cascade was outscored in the paint 20-4 overall after Jocelyn Laughlin went down with an apparent ankle injury just four minutes into the game. Laughlin did not return to the game.

“All five on the court were doing their job defensively,” Pierce said, “We’ve smothered teams over the course of this past month. Our goal is to make every shot as tough as possible, and we continued to do that tonight.”

Cascade jumped out to an early 7-2 lead on a Young triple at the 6:25 mark, but the Viqueens came storming back with a 9-1 run over the next 2:38 to take an 11-8 lead before Laughlin went down with an injury. The Lady Champs scored the final three points of the period to knot the score up at 11 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second, Community held Cascade to just three points, managing to take a 19-14 lead heading into the halftime locker room.

Coming out for the second half, the Lady Champs had their highest-scoring period of the night, outscoring the Viqueens, 13-12, to trim the lead to 31-27 heading into the final frame. However, Community managed to pull away in the fourth, outscoring Cascade 17-7 en route to the 51-37 win as the Lady Champs’ struggles from the field continued. 

Community improves to 15-13 overall. The Viqueens travel to Decatur County Riverside on Friday for the Region 5-AA quarterfinals. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Cascade falls to 21-8 overall. The Lady Champions travel to District 10-AA champions, Hickman County, in the Region 5-AA quarterfinals on Friday night, LIVE on The Zinger 100.9 and AM 1400 at 6:45 p.m.

CASCADE: K. Young 20 (4), L. Keele 8, C. Parker 5 (1), L. Comstock 3 (1), J. Laughlin 1.

COMMUNITY: A. White 17, S. Pearson 9 (3), M. Hill 8 (1), A. Haskins 7, S. Flannagan 5 (1), M. Pridmore 4, B. Yoes 1.