3rd time’s a charm for Cashion girls

Cashion needed this one…in more ways than one.

The Lady Wildcats got their biggest win of the season Saturday as they upset 2A’s eighth-ranked Riverside 50-45 to win their own Cashion County Line Tournament.

It was Cashion’s first time to win its own tournament since 2018.

For Cashion, it was also the team’s third time to make a tournament title game this season. The Lady Wildcats came up short at Garber and in the conference finals.

And on top of that, it was Cashion’s first victory over a top 10 squad this year. Cashion’s six previous losses were to teams ranked sixth or higher in their respective classes, including the No. 1 teams in A, 2A and 3A.

“We needed to win,” coach Andrea Taylor said.

Taylor said her team’s defense was “outstanding” the entire game.

Still, her squad gave up 21 points in the second quarter and trailed by 13 points at halftime.

“Offensively we settled down in the second half and realized we could actually run an offense,” Taylor said.

The result was a 24-7 run in the third to take a lead Cashion wouldn’t lose.

Addison McCracken made two huge 3-pointers in the second half to help put away the visitors.

Megan Shafer carried the team offensively in the first half and finished with a game-high 20 points.

Her sister Brooke Shafer came alive in the second half to finish with 10.

Both were also big on the defensive end, making life miserable in the paint for the Lady Indians.

And they both produced double-doubles.

Megan Shafer pulled down 11 rebounds while Brooke recorded 10.

As big as the defense was, Taylor said it was the offense coming around that made the difference.

“I am extremely proud of all of them for making the necessary adjustments and getting it done,” she said. “I can’t say enough about the growth of my guards from beginning to end.

“I felt like they turned a corner. They had to figure out how to get it past Riverside’s initial line of pressure and get it inside to our bigs and they did it really well in the second half.”

Abby Hobgood scored seven points for Cashion while McCracken finished with six. Kate Nabavi contributed four and Madison Westerhoff three.

Cashion got to the finals with Friday’s 49-40 victory against Oklahoma Christian School.

Up two after three quarters, Cashion outscored OCS 17-10 in the fourth.

Four Lady Wildcats scored in double figures, led by Brooke Shafer’s 14.

Westerhoff pitched in 12 points while Megan Shafer and Hobgood scored 10 apiece.

Cashion, ranked 14th in Class 2A, ended the week with a 14-6 mark.

Fairview tops Cashion boys for 3rd

Entering the semifinals, Cashion’s boys had lost only once in January and that was to the top-ranked team in Class A.

That run came to an end Friday and Saturday.

The Wildcats were downed by Class 2A’s fourth-ranked Riverside 75-60 in the semifinals.

On Saturday, it was No. 18 Fairview besting the 11th-ranked Wildcats, 5854, in overtime in the third place game.

The losses dipped Cashion’s record to 14-6.

Riverside made 10 3-pointers and out-rebounded Cashion by 13.

The Indians were up five at half, but used a 19-9 run in the third quarter to build some cushion.

Devin Bert led the Indians with 25. They also got 19 points from Christian Dobson and 10 points and 12 rebounds from Cordero Bobo.

Cashion was led by Parker Mitchell’s 21 points. Drake Woody scored 13 and led the team with seven boards.

Hudson Horan chipped in nine points.

Mitchell scored 23 in the loss to Fairview.

The Yellowjackets outscored Cashion 12-8 in the overtime period.

Anthony Wilburn added 15 points.

Cashion was just 21 percent from 3-point range, making just 7 of 33 attempts.