Cashion falls one win short of state

The foundation is set.

Andrea Taylor just hopes the building continues on it nine months from now.

Cashion’s season came to an end Saturday as the Lady Wildcats were ousted 63-33 by No. 1 Dale in a Class 2A area consolation championship.

The story isn’t the margin of loss or the 14-15 final record, rather the fact Cashion was within one win of reaching the state tournament.

The team won two elimination games at area, including Friday’s 55-52 triumph over Wewoka.

Dale, upset by Warner in Friday’s area championship game, was the only team to beat Cashion in the playoffs.

The loss on Saturday was Cashion’s fourth to the Lady Pirates since the latter part of January.

“We knew that’s where we could be,” said Taylor of the team’s march deep into the playoffs despite a roster full of underclassmen.

“We just ran out of gas in the last game against the No. 1 team in the class.”

Playing ranked foes is nothing new to Cashion.

The Lady Wildcats opened the playoffs with a win over No. 16 Stroud.

Of the team’s losses this year, 10 were to teams that qualified for state in their respective classes.

“We play a tough schedule and it took the girls a little bit to get going, but they proved themselves,” Taylor said.

Since the start of February, Cashion is 8-4. The only two teams to beat the Lady Wildcats were Dale and Okarche, the latter of which made the Class A semifinals.

Wewoka outscored Cashion by 12 points over the middle two quarters, but Cashion erupted for 26 points in the fourth to claim the win.

Lauren Jenkins poured in 18 points while Megan Shafer scored 16 and Reese Williams 11.

Jenkins led the team with 11 points against Dale, which used a 21-2 third-quarter run to pull away.

“I’m really proud of what they accomplished this year,” Taylor said. “We’re hoping next season we can start where we left off.”