A win 23 years in the making

In the grand scheme of the playoffs, winning a regional winner’s bracket semifinal game usually isn’t such a big deal.

That wasn’t the case Thursday for Cashion.

The Wildcats throttled yet another foe as they downed Hobart 58-29 in Cashion to advance to a 2A regional championship game.

More important for the psyche of the program, Cashion locked down its spot in this week’s area tournament.

It’s the first time the Cashion boys will advance to area since 1997.

That’s 23 years.

“That’s a crazy long time,” said coach John Hardaway, who is in his eighth year with the program.

“We have some bigger goals, no doubt, but this was big for us.”

Cashion improved to 23-2 and will take on No. 19 Mangum at 8 p.m. Saturday at Boone-Apache High School.

Win or lose, Cashion moves on.

That hasn’t been the case since Gary Stidham’s second-to-last season at the helm of the program. That year’s team made it to the area consolation semifinal before bowing out to Ringwood, 84-72, to finish with a 17-10 record.

The next season’s team had a glistening 19-2 record at the end of the regular season, but was knocked out of the regional by rival Okarche just one win shy of the area tournament.

That’s become the theme in the years since.

Cashion has been within a lone win of making area at least a dozen times in that stretch, but has been unable to crack the code.

Rick Harris. Lynn Shackelford. Jeremy Stover. James Todd.

All fell short.

Even Hardaway in his first seven seasons.

“We’ve had some tough luck, some tough draws,” Hardaway said. “Still, you have to find a way to win.”

After a close first half, the Wildcats dominated Hobart in the second to find that way.

Up by eight at the break, Cashion used a 19-8 run to build a cushion in the third quarter.

It closed the game with a 14-4 spurt.

The second-ranked Wildcats were led by Jacob Woody’s 21 points.

Vance Raney added 10 while Jonah Jenkins and Alex Nabavi scored seven apiece.

Afterward, Hardaway let out a huge sigh, one that released nearly two dozen years worth of frustration for the program.

“There was relief, yes, but mainly from the coaches,” Hardaway said. “The kids just played and did great. I’m very proud of them.”

Mangum enters the regional title game with a 21-3 mark. It downed Calera 72-45 Thursday and has a 13-game win streak.

Cashion girls earn spot in regional final

While the drought wasn’t nearly as severe as the boys, the Cashion girls ensured their own return to the area tournament.

The Lady Wildcats shut down Merritt’s offense Thursday to earn a 39-32 victory in the regional semifinal.

The win puts Cashion into Saturday’s regional championship game and assured the team a spot in the area tournament later this week.

After becoming regulars at the state tournament and collecting a couple of silver balls in recent years, Cashion was eliminated last year in the regional tournament.

“Last night was a great mental victory for us,” said first-year head coach Andrea Taylor on Friday. Taylor was an assistant coach last year as well as on the teams that reached state.

“Last year we really just fell apart when it mattered,” she recalled. “Our mental toughness is something we have talked about all year.”

Merritt was able to challenge that with a pair of 6-footers and a defensive scheme that tried to deny two of Cashion’s primary ball-handlers.

While it slowed down Cashion, Lauren Lamb made sure it didn’t stop the Lady Wildcats.

The sophomore scored a game-high 18 points, including 12 during the second and third quarters when Cashion outscored Merritt 24-17.

Cashion only scored six points in the fourth, but so did Merritt.

“I really thought we defended them well all night,” Taylor said. “And as ugly as it was at time, we just took what they gave us with our offense.”

Cashion also got nine points from Neeley Tilley-Bedick, all in the first half.

The Lady Wildcats, now 17-8, play No. 2 Silo at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Boone-Apache.

Silo (25-2) beat Mangum 73-50 Thursday.