2A recap: Hennessey-Cashion III on tap?
CASHION FRESHMAN Brook Shelly goes up for a shot against Cordell during their 2A district title game Saturday. [Photo by Brad Stone]
CASHION’S VANCE Raney (11) defends Watonga’s Marcos Reza during the Wildcats’ 70-62 win in last Saturday’s 2A district championship game. [Photo by Brad Stone]
Could Cashion-Hennessey III happen in the playoffs?
If both win Thursday night, it certainly will, only this time the stakes will be much bigger than their previous two showdowns.
The two county teams won Class 2A district championships last Saturday night: Cashion handled Watonga 70-62 at home while Hennessey held off Fairview 55-46 on the road.
That sends each of them to this week’s regional tournament in the championship semifinals.
Hennessey plays Merritt at 8 p.m. Thursday in Hinton.
At the exact same time, Cashion will be taking on No. 10 Carnegie at Burns Flat-Dill City.
The winners of those games play for the regional championship at 8 p.m. Saturday in Hinton.
Sixth-ranked Hennessey (21-2) got the best of Cashion, 64-50, when the two met on Dec. 4.
No. 18 Cashion (16-8) returned the favor, 56-40, in the rematch in the Three Rivers Conference Tournament semifinals.
The Eagles didn’t pull away from Fairview until outscoring the Yellowjackets 23-11 in the fourth quarter. Six different Eagles scored in the decisive frame.
Angel Rodriguez had seven of his 17 points in the fourth. He was 5 of 6 from the free throw line.
Hugo Rodriguez scored five of his eight points while Cooper Fuksa scored four of his seven.
Angel led the team overall with 17 points.
Brandon Ramirez scored 15, of which 13 came in the second half.
As for Cashion, the Wildcats methodically built up a 10-point lead through three quarters before pulling out their third win of the year against Watonga.
Jacob Woody and Alex Nabavi combined for 50 points.
Woody added a team-high nine rebounds while Nabavi went 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
Ethan Suntken only scored two points, but the senior came away with six steals for the Wildcats…
Crescent, meanwhile, didn’t pull off a district championship, but the Tigers did avoid being eliminated.
Instead, it was Tonkawa that suffered that fate Friday when the Tigers defeated the Bucs 79-75 in Crescent.
That gave the Tigers a shot at No. 14 Luther in the district championship Saturday where the Lions prevailed 63-46
That sends Crescent (8-17) into the regional consolation bracket. It will play Mounds at 3 p.m. Thursday in Mounds in the quarterfinals.
Cashion girls win district
Kaitin Taylor helped secure another district championship for Cashion.
The junior guard scored 21 points, including nine in the fourth quarter as Cashion pulled away from Cordell 55-41 at home Saturday in a 2A district championship.
Taylor scored six as Cashion got out to a 14-7 lead in the first quarter. She had the remainder of her points in the second half.
Tatum Robertson added 14 points as Cashion improved to 15-9.
The Lady Wildcats play No. 10 Hollis at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Burns Flat-Dill City in a regional semifinal.
The remainder of the regional will be played in Hinton.
In that same regional will be Hennessey, which staved off elimination on Friday, but couldn’t pull off an upset the next night with a district championship on the line.
The Lady Eagles defeated Hinton 54-47 in a 2A elimination district game in Fairview to open the playoffs. They were knocked off 77-37 by No. 8 Fairview on Saturday.
Hennessey (8-16) will play Navajo at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in a consolation quarterfinal in Hinton. If the Lady Eagles win, they’ll play again at 1:30 p.m. Friday.
Another loss ends Hennessey’s season…
Crescent’s girls are also a loss away from elimination.
They defeated Tonkawa 61-41 at home on Friday, but were dealt a 52-37 loss by No. 20 Luther the next night in a 2A district championship.