Lady Champion head coach Janie Demonbreum cheers on her team during Tuesday night’s district opener against Cannon County. (Post Photo by Chris Siers)
Senior Sophie Ray splits the Lionette defense and powers her way to the rim for two. She finished with a team-high 16 points on Tuesday. (Post Photo by Chris Siers)
csiers@bedfordcountypost.com
BELL BUCKLE — With just over a minute left in Tuesday night’s District 9-2A opener against visiting Cannon County, Cascade (6-7, 0-1) pulled within one point of the Lionette lead after Lizzie Keele hit the front end of a pair of free throw attempts.
Although Cascade pulled within one, Cannon County (10-4, 2-0) hit late free throws to escape with a 50-44 win over the Lady Champs.
The game certainly had its ebbs and flows, stretching from the feels of an offensive shootout, to a defensive struggle.
Cascade relied on surgical precision shooting in the first quarter, while Cannon County relied on its size advantage in the paint with a bigger lineup.
Keele drilled a pair of first-quarter 3-pointers to lead a 14-point Lady Champion effort, but Cannon County clung to a 17-14 lead after the first quarter, with Abi Alexander knocking down six of her game-high 19 points in the period.
While the first quarter felt like the game could spill into a shootout, the second quarter saw offenses grind to a halt and the two teams combine for just 13 points.
With shots not falling seemingly for either team, Cannon County held onto a 23-21 lead at the break.
Although offense was a struggle for both teams in the second period, Cannon County was able to get its offense back on track in the third period.
After breaking Cascade’s press, Mylee Shwartz hit a transition corner 3-pointer to stretch the Lionette lead to 29-21 with 6:30 left in the third.
Battling foul trouble, point guard Kaegan Young drilled a 3-pointer for Cascade with 5:05 left to pull back within seven points.
Later on in the fourth, Young struck again with another 3-pointer with 4:06 to go in regulation to bring Cascade within five.
Less than two minutes later, Young was whistled for her fifth foul and forced to the bench, forcing Cascade to adjust its lineup.
Even with Young out of the game, the game felt like a late-season postseason meeting, with Cascade answering each Lionette score.
Senior Sophie Ray brought Cascade within two with 1:29 to go.
In total, Cascade was able to slow the game and made good on 6-of-9 free throw attempts, while Cannon County made 7-of-9 tries.
Even on a 17-13 run, Cannon County was able to make just enough free throw attempts and survive a handful of tying 3-pointers in the closing seconds to escape with the district win.
Cascade is scheduled to continue district play on Friday night at Grundy County, weather pending.
Cannon Co. 17 6 14 13 — 50
Cascade 14 7 6 17 — 44
Cannon Co.: Abi Alexander 19, Mylee Schwartz 8, Addie King 7, Liv Prater 7, Jaylynn Taylor 5, Elly Bain 4.
Cascade: Sophie Ray 16, Lizzie Keele 11, Caroline Parker 9, Kaegan Young 8.
3-Point goals: Cascade (5): Keele 2, Young 2, Parker; Cannon Co. (4): Alexander 2, Schwartz 2.
Halftime score: Cannon Co. 23, Cascade 21.
