Post Photo by Chris Siers Isaac McElroy pulls up for a short-range jumper. He led the Champs with 24 points.
By Chris Siers
csiers@bedfordcountypost.com
BELL BUCKLE — Santa Fe got a 31-point effort from Auden Slaughter and Cascade struggled to contain the Wildcat shooters as the Champs took a tough one on the chin on Monday night and fell, 67-48.
Slaughter was one of three Wildcats to hit double figures and led all scorers with 31 points.
“He’s closing in on 2,000 points as a junior, which is pretty incredible. He made some tough shots. Where he separates himself is, he has enough skill, he can continue through contact and finish. The kicker tonight was, they had some other guys step up and really shoot the ball tonight,” Cascade coach Chris Lawson said.
“They made eight three’s. That’s tough and we’re struggling to score.”
Things got off to a rocky start and Santa Fe jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on the Champs.
Cascade eventually found some offensive rhythm and a corner 3-pointer by Nick Harris put Cascade up, 15-13 after the first quarter.
But the middle quarters were unkind to the Champs as the Wildcats went on a 35-12 run to take a firm control of the game.
Cascade eventually rallied for 21 in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t overcome the middle-quarter deficits to mount a late-game comeback bid.
“One thing we’ve talked about is our turnovers and trying to take care of the basketball and get it to guys we need to make plays. That’s where we’re struggling. We’re struggling getting the ball to where it needs to go,” Lawson said.
Isaac McElroy was the lone bright spot for the Champs, who scored 24 points.
Beyond McElroy, Cascade is still searching for its on-court identity through the early part of the season.
Having graduated a majority of its offensive production from a year ago, Cascade is looking for more consistency in the scoring column, as well as cutting down on the miscues.
“We knew it was going to be tough. We graduated six seniors last year and something like 90% of our scoring. We have a senior heavy group again, but they’ve not had to carry the load like this. We’re trying to figure out where we’re going to produce the points, how we’re going to produce those points and who are going to be our leaders,” Lawson said.
Cascade hits the road on Friday night and will travel to Moore County to face the Raiders/
Santa Fe 13 16 19 19 — 67
Cascade 15 5 7 21 — 48
Santa Fe: Auden Slaughter 31, Macon Adkison 17, Austin Hazlett 10, Jax Slaughter 5, Andrew Graves 4.
Cascade: Isaac McElroy 24, Tucker McGee 6, Henry Stone 6, Zach Crosslin 4, Caden Hammonds 3, Nick Harris 3, Logan Pulley 2.
3-Point goals: Santa Fe (8): Adkison 3, A. Slaughter 2, Hazlett 2, J. Slaughter; Cascade (6): McElroy 3, Hammonds, Harris, McGee.
Halftime score:Santa Fe 29, Cascade 20.
