Cascade girls' basketball team finishes season with spirited effort against Okanogan

The Cascade girls’ basketball team finished their season last Friday at home against Okanogan. Cascade trailed 19-8 in the first quarter, but rallied to win the second quarter 14-12. They trailed 31-22 at the half.
The Bulldogs outscored the Kodiaks 25-12 in the third quarter to take a 56-34 lead. The resilient Kodiaks fought to win the fourth quarter 20-19, but obviously fell short 75-54. Still Cascade Head Coach Dane Lewman was pleased his team played hard the whole game.
“Our focus was just leaving everything out on the court just one last time this year. They did. They played hard. They did not back down. It was a good Okanogan team. They are 14th in state right now. For us to play them that close is really good,” Lewman said.
Lewman was pleased his team won the two quarters.
“The second we did a defensive change and did a box-and-one on their best player. They didn’t know what to do so it caught them off guard. Fourth quarter we just kept coming after them. We didn’t back down. Putting that intensity together is our next step forward building for the future,” Lewman said.
Junior Bekah Francis had her best game of the season with 19 points. Junior Kaija Lovelady had 14 points, including all eight Kodiak points in the first quarter.
“Bekah had her best game of the year. She was getting a lot of good, open looks. People penetrating, kicking it to her. That was a focus this week. We’re not taking the silly shots. We’re penetrating pressure, then kicking it to the open person. She benefitted from it tonight. She was hitting her shots,” Lewman said.
Cascade finishes the season 0-12 in the Caribou Trail League and 4-16 overall. Lewman said he has seen big improvement during the course of the season.
“Looking where we came from to where we are now, there’s huge improvement. Even from the first game to now is a huge improvement. To finish off with something like this just shows this next year is going to be really important for us,” he said.
How does Cascade take the next step?
“Just off season, make sure we get all the girls out in the off season, make sure we build up for skills. Get new blood rolling through then set up a competitive summer program like we’ve been doing. Just come after people,” Lewman said.
Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.