Cashion shows fight, but Dale overpowers

For a half, Cashion gave Dale a run for its money.

Then the Pirates showed why they’re the favorites to win their fourth consecutive state championship.

No. 1 Dale used an 18-0 run to start the second half Thursday morning and rode it to a 74-55 victory against Cashion in the Class 2A boys basketball state quarterfinals at State Fair Arena.

The loss concludes Cashion’s season with a 22-9 record.

“When you go to the state tournament, play in the Big House and win 20plus games, that’s a heck of a year,” said Cashion coach John Hardaway.

“And our guys earned it.”

Dale improved to 28-2. The Pirates are approaching 60 straight wins against 2A teams.

The last one to beat them? Cashion in the 202122 regular season before Dale beat the Wildcats in the state title game for the first of its current run of titles.

Despite being underdogs this week, Hardaway said his team went into the game with the sole purpose of not just competing, but winning.

“The guys had a great week. They were confident and poised all week in preparation,” he said.

After falling behind by 14 points in the first quarter, Cashion climbed its way back into it.

It started with a Drake Woody 3-pointer that banked in to close the first.

Cashion then went on a run in the second quarter that pulled it within 32-27 on a pair of Parker Mitchell free throws with 3:28 to play in the half.

Mitchell had 10 points during that second-quarter stretch, but Dale’s Jett Higdon bought back some breathing room with two straight buckets.

The Wildcats still had some fight left as Hudson Horan and Anthony Wilburn drained consecutive treys. Wilburn’s came at the 1:40 mark and had Cashion within 36-33.

Denton Forsythe answered with two straight driving baskets to stake a 40-33 lead at halftime.

The momentum carried over into the second half for Dale.

Trayden Chambers started the half with a pair of baskets in the paint, then Easton Edmondson sank a pair of treys.

Forsythe made another trey at 4:10 to cap the 18 straight points to start the half and a run of 22-0 to end the second quarter.

Forsythe’s trey made it 58-33.

Kamden Miller ended Cashion’s drought with a 3-pointer and Cashion went on a 9-2 run, but the Wildcats weren’t able to threaten Dale’s lead.

Rebounding played a role.

The Pirates owned a 28-16 advantage on the boards. Their nine offensive rebounds led to 15 second-chance points.

Cashion had no second chance points.

After shooting 57.1 percent in the first half, the Wildcats were limited to 30.4 in the second.

Dale shot 59.1 percent for the game.

Forsythe paced the Pirates with 23 points and eight rebounds.

Chambers scored 15 to go with nine rebounds while Higdon scored 13 and Edmondson 10.

“We executed our game plan well. They are just a load to deal with,” Hardaway said, noting the combination of ability, size, explosiveness and experience.

Mitchell scored 21 for the Wildcats.

Cashion also got nine from Drake Woody and eight from Wilburn.

“Our kids battled and competed to the very end,” Hardaway said. “They got after it today and played with nothing to lose. All we ask of our teams is to play their best basketball at the end of the season and they did it.”