Post Photo by Chris Siers Saebyn Burris powers his way to the rim for the Champs. He finished with seven points against the Raiders.
By Chris Siers
csiers@bedfordcountypost.com
LYNCHBURG — Throughout the first several weeks of the season, the Cascade Champions have been searching for the right combination of the lineup to produce the most offense on the floor.
Having graduated a key part of the offensive production a year ago, it’s been a work in progress.
On Friday night, the Champs took a big step in the right direction and saw several young players answer the bell as Cascade knocked off Moore County, 55-44.
“We’ve been looking for some extra scoring and we’ve been looking for someone else who can give us a spark. I think we kind of found that tonight with some of the young kids coming in,” Champion coach Chris Lawson said.
“We had three or four different ones either get offensive rebounds, throw in a three, or throw in a free throw or two. I told the guys afterwards that it was a total team effort. Then we had our older guys finish it in the end being strong with the basketball and closing it out.”
The two teams swapped control of the scoreboard with three lead changes through the first quarter until outscored the home team 11-7 in the second quarter to take a five-point lead into the half.
Moore County exited the half and cut the Cascade lead to four points by the end of the third quarter.
But every time Cascade needed a play, it was the younger Champions who delivered on the court.
“We’ve struggled to score. But our younger guys are pretty good shooters. We’ve been working on that a little bit. They came in ready to play and knock down shots. If it takes all 15 guys, that’s what we’ll do,” Lawson said.
Eight Champions found their way into the scoring column, but it was Isaac McElroy who led the Champs with 18 points.
As a team, Cascade did just enough at the free throw line and cashed in on 24-of-36 attempts to help pull away fro the 11-point win.
“We all got some good experience tonight. Moore County pretty much had one guy who did all their scoring. We talked about trying to locate him on defense. The young kids get to grow up with that kind of experience. That’s what they need. That kind of experience will help us when we get down to the end of the season,” Lawson said.
Cascade returned home on Tuesday night for another non-district game against Brentwood and will close the week at home against Fayetteville City on Friday night.
Cascade 12 11 12 20 — 55
Moore Co. 11 7 13 13 — 44
Cascade: Isaac McElroy 17, Zach Crosslin 9, Saebyn Burris 7, Tristin Billings 6, Caden Hammonds 5, Tucker McGee 5, Logan Pulley 5, Tyler Rodgers 3.
Moore Co.: Alex Copeland 18, Logan Hegwood 13, Peyton Martin 5, Brantley Hill 4, Emery Bryan 2, Sawyer Parks 2.
3-Point goals: Cascade (4): Billings, Hammonds, Crosslin, Burris; Moore Co. (3): Copeland 3.
Halftime score: Cascade 23, Moore Co. 18.
