Lady Wildcats block Watonga comeback

As she watched her team’s lead dissipate, Andrea Taylor was happy about one thing, at least.

“I’m glad I still had all my timeouts,” said the Cashion girls basketball coach.

Taylor had to use a bulk of those timeouts late as Cashion’s double-digit cushion at home was reduced to one solitary point in the fourth quarter.

In the end, though, Cashion held off the Lady Eagle surge to prevail 47-43 in their Class 2A district championship game.

“We had a lot of girls out there who don’t have very much playoff experience,” said Taylor. “It was showing, so we had to keep trying to settle them down and try to get the game back under control.”

Cashion has just one senior on its roster, Jaylee Harp, and her postseason experience is limited.

Outside of junior Brooke Shafer, Taylor was having to depend on two sophomores and two freshmen to handle Watonga’s intensifi ed pressure.

The youth wasn’t showing early, though.

Kate Nabavi and Reese Hobgood both made two 3-pointers as part of a 16-0 run by Cashion in the first quarter.

Nabavi added a third 3-pointer near the end of the quarter for a 19-5 lead.

Watonga was able to hang around, but it was still a 12-point Cashion advantage entering the fourth.

And it was at 44-33 with under 2:00 to play before things started to unravel for Cashion.

The Lady Wildcats committed four straight turnovers, which helped lead to a 10-0 Watonga run.

A Jayla Ross three-point play on a putback with 53 seconds left pulled Watonga within 44-43.

Cashion was able to slow the rush when Nabavi was fouled just a second later. She made 1 of 2 free throws for a two-point lead.

Watonga burned nearly half of the clock before throwing the ball away.

That led to Nabavi again going 1 of 2 from the foul line with 23 seconds remaining.

That’s when the senior came up big as Harp grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled.

She also made 1 of 2, making it a four-point lead and two-possession game.

Watonga was unable to score on the other end as Cashion secured the win.

Shafer did her part as she made at least two field goals in every quarter and scored 7 in the fourth quarter to finish with 19.

“She was one who was able to play with some poise out there when things got hectic,” Taylor said.

Nabavi and Hobgood each finished with three made 3-pointers.

Nabavi scored 13 and Hobgood 11.

Cashion, ranked 15th in 2A, will play Cordell at 6 p.m. Tuesday in a regional semifinal at Watonga.