Cascade girls basketball team falls to Cashmere, Cle Elum

It was a tough week for the Cascade Kodiak girls’ basketball team with road games at Cashmere and Cle Elum. Cascade played at Cashmere on Jan. 9, losing 66-22, which was actually a big improvement since the last time they played. On Dec. 12, Cashmere won 84-9.
“We were much improved. It was all about energy and effort. We really came after them. Our energy level was high throughout the game, which was good to see. Cashmere is a juggernaut, but if you can keep things continuously moving forward, then you are going to come out with some positive things on the other end,” said Cascade Head Coach Dane Lewman.
The big difference, Lewman said, was they were just playing more together.
“We did not let little things get us down throughout the game. We’ve been known to do that. For us to take a step forward in that direction was really big. It was something we were focusing on the entire week, so it was good to step into that on game day,” Lewman said. “There are still things to work on. We left 11 shots in the first half which were all within two-feet of the basket. That’s a huge difference, which killed us.”
Kaija Lovelady led the Kodiaks with 10 points.  
Cascade played at Cle Elum last Saturday, losing 70-27. Lewman said Cle Elum is a tough group, not Cashmere level, but they have six seniors who have played together a long time. He said that was difficult to run up against.
“The effort and energy we had in Cashmere did not roll over into this game. I was shocked. To begin the game, we had some good looks at the hoop but did not capitalize. It just went downhill from there,” Lewman said. “We broke their press multiple times, which is something we’ve struggled with throughout the season, but we put it together and executed it well. We were missing lay-ins at the other end.”
Lewman said they have to get back to playing like they did in Cashmere.
“We didn’t have many turnovers. That was not our problem in this game. Our problem was not putting the ball in the hoop. We had some good looks. We would miss it and they would rebound and go. They have two big posts who only rebound. They kept everyone off the glass,” Lewman said.
Basically he said they were just missing shots.
“They had good defense, but we had some good looks we should make. That played into one of those, ‘oh shoot, not again’ moments. We needed to battle out of that, which we did in Cashmere. We’re going to have to pick it up,” Lewman said.
Kascia Muscutt had 10 points to lead the Kodiaks.
Cascade fell to 3-11 overall, 0-7 in league. Coming up this week, road games at Okanogan and Chelan.
“For us, we just have to keep taking one step forward. We have keep the energy up. We can’t take a quarter off. We need to turn around and execute,” Lewman said.
Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.