CASCADE 49, DENVER 34

There was no letdown for Cascade after its big regional upset.

The unranked Cougars played solid defense throughout, got balanced scoring and beat Denver 49-34 Tuesday to advance to the Class 2A semifinals.

Cascade earned its trip to the state tournament by knocking off top-ranked MFL-Mar-Mac in its regional final. Now the Cougars are one victory from playing for the state championship.

Maggie Reiter led Cascade with 11 points and eight rebounds. Haylee Hoffman scored 10 points for the Cougars, Amber Meyer had nine and Holly Hosch eight.

Chanda Goedken, the team's leading scorer with a 10.4 average, finished with just two points. But Goedken contributed in other ways, grabbing 14 rebounds, handing out four assists and making three steals.

Amanda Frost led Denver with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Emily Schweer added 12 points and four assists.

Cascade scored the final seven points of the first half to take a 22-13 lead and maintained that cushion the rest of the way. Denver never got closer than eight points in the second half and Cascade led by as many as 16.

Cascade will take a 23-3 record against sixth-ranked Hinton in a semifinal game at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Denver, which made its fifth trip to state under veteran coach Steve Moon, finished 21-4.