Post Photo by Chris Siers Kaegan Young drives the ball through the Lady Jacket defense and scores. She posted a team-high 27 points on Tuesday night.
By CHRIS SIERS
csiers@bedfordcountypost.com
BELL BUCKLE — What started out as a lop-sided game that could have led to a massive blowout ended up being a thrilling finish between Cascade (10-14, 3-4) and Grundy County in the District 9-AA matchup on Tuesday night.
Grundy County (15-6, 3-3) outscored Cascade 22-5, but had to fight off the tenacious Lady Champions, who outscored the Lady Jackets in each of the three remaining quarters.
Although it was a valiant effort that cut the lead to one possession early in the fourth, the Lady Jackets survived the affair with the 62-58 win over Cascade.
In the first quarter, Cascade simply could not buy a basket.
From contested shots, to shots that kissed every inch of the iron and wouldn’t fall, the Lady Champs just couldn’t get a shot to fall.
What Cascade was able to do was attack the Lady Jacket defense and put Grundy County in foul trouble that would prove fruitful in the comeback.
Kaegan Young scored Cascade’s only field goal of the first quarter with 1:04 to go in the opening frame.
Grundy County, meanwhile, went to work on the offensive end of the court and played through Kallie Parson in the low post, who scored 10 of her game-high 32 points in the first.
By the end of the quarter, Grundy County held a significant 22-5 lead over the Lady Champs, all five of which were scored by Young.
Even trailing 17, Cascade stuck to the game plan and continued to attack the Grundy County defense and get to the free throw line.
Make no mistake, the night belonged to Young on the offensive end of the court.
she scored all six of her points, going a perfect 6-of-6 tries from the charity stripe in the second.
She also got some help from the perimeter attack by Laina Carter, Kaydence Miller and Suzanna Crews, all of whom hit 3-pointers in the 20-point Lady Champion second.
Still, Cascade trailed by 12 at the intermission.
A Lady Jacket scoring drought that spilled into the 3:04 mark of the third saw Miller bring the Lady Champs within a single basket on a 3-pointer, cutting the score to 39-37.
Grundy County responded with six-straight points by Parson to bump the advantage back out to 45-37.
With momentum seemingly in hand for the visitors, Grundy County coach Brittany Woodlee was issued two technicals with four seconds left in the quarter, which gave Cascade a chance at four free throws.
Young stepped to the line and connected on 2-of-4 attempts and kept it a six-point Grundy County lead by the end of the quarter.
Miller again pulled the Lady Champs within a possession with another timely 3-pointer with 7:32 left in regulation, but that was as close as Cascade got, despite a 19-point effort in the fourth.
Aside from the lop-sided first quarter, Cascade dominated the remainder of the game.
The Lady Champs were the beneficiary of 20 Grundy County fouls that led to Cascade making a living at the line.
On the night, the Lady Champs cashed in on 17-of-24 free throw attempts.
While certainly disheartening, Cascade gets a chance to right the ship on its home court on Friday night, hosting Forrest at 6 p.m.
Grundy Co. 22 15 8 17 — 62
Cascade 5 20 14 19 — 58
Grundy Co.: Kallie Parson 32, Kassadee Crabtree 16, Carlee Smartt 7, Jaidys McDaniel 5, Gracie Painter 2.
Cascade: Kaegan Young 27 Kaydence Miller 10, Sophie Ray 8, Suzanna Crews 8, Laina Carter 5.
3-Point goals: Cascade (5): Miller 2, Young, Crews, Carter; Grundy Co. (2): Smartt, McDaniel.
Halftime score: Grundy Co. 37, Cascade 25.
