Poised and sound, Cascade beats Regina

CASCADE -- The lead slipping, Cascade Coach Al Marshall stood off the bench, spread out his palms and uttered one word to his team.

Poise.

"When he does that, we relax a little bit," said senior guard Haris Takes. "He calms us down."

Poised and fundamentally sound, Class 2A seventh-rated Cascade downed No. 4 Iowa City Regina, 56-44, in a boys' basketball game between River Valley Conference heavyweights Tuesday night at Cascade High School.

The Cougars (15-2 overall, 13-1 RVC) scored nine straight points after Regina (17-2, 14-2) closed within 47-41 with 2:20 to play.

That's poise.

After missing four of five free throws to allow Regina to creep closer, the Cougars hit seven of eight in the final two minutes. That, and a critical turnaround jumper by sophomore pivot Jacob Green, put it away.

Takes didn't score until the second quarter, the got untracked and led all scorers with 21 points. Most of them came on feathery midrange jumpers.

"That's Cascade basketball, in a nutshell," Takes said. "We probably shoot 100 of those shots a day. They come naturally to us."

It's old-school basketball in a new world of wild forays to the basket and a deluge of 3-pointers. Old school works just fine.

Green added 12 points and eight rebounds for the winners. Mitchell Oberbroeckling posted 11 points and five assists.

Oberbroeckling's 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter ignited the Cougars, pulling them within 14-11. A nine-point run in the second quarter put them in front for good at 22-17.

An 8-0 surge in the third period gave Cascade separation at 36-23, and they were in firm command until Regina's mild fourth-quarter push.

Drew Cook accumulated 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Regals. Philip Arendt scored nine points.

CASCADE 56, IOWA CITY REGINA 44

At Cascade

IOWA CITY REGINA (44): Nathan Stenger 2-10 2-2 8, Conner Brown 1-3 0-0 3, Nicholas Phillips 1-8 0-0 2, Drew Cook 6-13 1-4 14, Philip Arendt 4-6 0-0 9, Ethan Suchomel 2-2 0-0 6, Nicolas Ziniel 0-1 0-0 0, Michael Sehl 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 17-44 3-6 44.

CASCADE (56): Mitchell Oberbroeckling 3-5 4-9 11, Ries Rausch 1-1 0-0 3, Haris Takes 7-11 7-9 21, Mitch Recker 2-7 1-1 5, Devin Green 5-8 2-2 12, Nolan Weber 0-1 4-5 4. Totals 18-33 18-26 56.

Halftime: Cascade 24, Regina 19. 3-point goals: Regina 7-25 (Stenger 2-7, Brown 1-3, Phillips 0-6, Cook 1-4, Arendt 1-2, Suchomel 2-2, Ziniel 0-1), Cascade 2-3 (Oberbroeckling 1-2, Rausch 1-1). Team fouls: Regina 16, Cascade 7. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Regina 23 (Cook 11), Cascade 26 (Green 8). Assists: Regina 7 (Phillips 3), Cascade 8 (Oberbroeckling 5). Steals: Regina 5 (Phillips 2), Cascade 9 (Oberbroeckling 3). Turnovers: Regina 13, Cascade 11.