Solid consolation

Win it if you can, but if you can’t, win two.

The sentence might be confusing upon its first read, but that was the message John Hardaway gave his Cashion Wildcats last week.

His team was undefeated, ranked seventh in Class 2A…and was the FIFTH SEED in the Cashion County Line Tournament.

The boys bracket featured teams ranked third, sixth and ninth in 3A; one and seven in 2A; and 16th in 4A.

“Obviously everyone wants to win it,” Hardaway said. “But it’s hard to go 2-1 in a tournament like that. My high school coach used to say ‘we want to win it, but if we get beat, we have to go 2-1.’”

That’s exactly what Cashion did. After Thursday’s last-second loss to Crossings Christian School, the Wildcats came back to beat Alva 88-61 on Friday and then cap the tournament by knocking off Class 2A’s No. 1 Dale 53-42 Saturday in the consolation championship.

It was a game Hardaway was looking ahead to moments after the loss to Crossings.

“I told the guys Thursday after the game, which was a really tough one, to let it sting until Friday morning,” Hardaway said. “But when they wake up, they need to be ready to go take care of business Friday so we could have a shot at No. 1 Dale Saturday on our home floor.”

In a crazy shooting exhibition Friday, the teams combined for 25 made 3-pointers.

Fifteen of those belonged to Cashion and six of them to Kaden LaFortune, who led all scorers with 24 points.

Jacob Woody scored another 21 while Alex Nabavi and Vance Raney had 12 apiece.

Against Dale, Cashion “stole” the momentum away at the end of the third quarter.

The Pirates worked the ball on their possession for much of the final two minutes while holding a one-point lead.

However, Jonah Jenkins grabbed a steal and scored near the buzzer to put Cashion up one point entering the fourth. The Wildcats also got the ball to start that quarter.

“It was a huge swing in our favor,” Hardaway said.

Nabavi helped carry Cashion offensively through the end of the third and beginning of the fourth.

He scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, including three huge 3-pointers.

Raney then hit a late trey to ice the game.

Jenkins led the team with 19 points. Raney scored seven.

Woody, who played sick, only scored four, but made his mark on defense.

He helped guard Dale’s 6-foot-7 post, senior Trae Thompson, who was limited to eight points.

Carter Crowe led the Pirates with 11.

“That was such a big win for us,” Hardaway said. “Having the opportunity to play the No. 1 team in our class was the best opportunity for us outside of winning it.”

Coaches took notice as Cashion moved from seventh to third in the latest 2A rankings.

Crossings eventually won the tournament by defeating Oklahoma Christian School 72-53 in the final.

The Knights were the fourth seed and OCS the second. Crossings beat top-seeded Perry 67-54 in Friday’s semifinal.

Clinton, the sixth seed, beat Perry 74-71 in overtime in the third-place game.

“Going 2-1 in our tournament was so big,” Hardaway said. “The No. 1 team in 2A (Dale) and No. 3 team in 3A (Perry) couldn’t go 2-1. That’s how tough it was.”

Clinton knocks off Cashion girls for 3rd

The Cashion girls had to settle for fourth place after Saturday’s 49-41 loss to Clinton.

The Lady Reds built a 29-13 halftime lead and Cashion couldn’t cut deep enough into the deficit in the second half.

Kaitin Taylor paced Cashion with 18 points. Neeley Tilley Bedick scored eight.

Sophomore Carmella Jefferson scored 26 points for Clinton to lead all scorers.

Cashion was sent to the consolation bracket with Friday’s 45-40 loss to Alva in the semifinals.

Alva used a 14-5 second-quarter run to open up a seven-point lead.

Payton Jones scored 22 points for the Ladybugs, who went on to defeat Dale 65-59 in the championship game.

Cashion got 12 points from Tilley-Bedick and 10 from Brook Shelly.