Cashion holds off Seiling for win

Coming off back-to-back losses at the conference tournament, the Cashion girls weren’t given much time to regroup.

That’s because perennial state title contender Seiling was coming to town on Tuesday.

But regroup Cashion did as the Lady Wildcats held off their visitors for 54-48 victory.

“We made the necessary adjustments we needed to after the tournament,” said coach Andrea Taylor. “I thought we played well.”

Cashion suffered setbacks to Fairview in the tournament semifinals and then Okarche in the thirdplace game.

Seiling entered ranked No. 2 in B-II and was fresh off a championship at the Cherokee Invitational, which included a win over Garber, a team that beat Cashion earlier this year, in the title game.

The teams swapped solid quarters to see Cashion lead 22-20 at halftime before the home team pushed the lead to seven after three frames.

In the fourth, Lily Stuemky scored underneath to put Cashion up 50-42.

Seiling mounted a comeback and pulled within 50-48 thanks to a steal and layup with 29 seconds to play.

After a timeout, Cashion’s Kate Nabavi was fouled before the ball was ever put into play.

The sophomore guard made both free throws to push her team’s advantage to four points.

Jaylee Harp rebounded a missed 3-pointer on the other end and was fouled.

She missed both free throws with 21 seconds to play, but blocked a Seiling shot on the defensive end.

Cashion was able to add a late shot to put the game at the final margin.

Harp scored 10 for Cashion, one of three Lady Wildcats in double figures.

Brooke Shafer led the way with 16 while Stuemky finished with 11.

The win improved the team to 9-4.

King Boosts Wildcats

John Hardaway thought it might be near the end of the season before he was provided the services of King Underwood.

News to the contrary over the holiday break was one of the Cashion boys basketball coach’s Christmas gifts.

Doctors cleared Underwood from a knee injury he suffered in football, making the sophomore available earlier than expected.

And he’s been making his presence felt.

The most recent example was Tuesday in Cashion’s 98-38 home throttling of Seiling.

Underwood produced a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Wildcats won for the third straight time and for the sixth time in their last seven games.

Andrew Rivas scored 24 points for Seiling, but that was about the lone bright spot as Cashion dominated every quarter and most every aspect of the game.

The home team shot 53 percent overall, out-rebounded the guests by 19, had 25 assists and forced 28 turnovers.

Although he didn’t score, Brian Nabavi delivered 7 of those assists for Cashion, which improved to 9-4. The scoring came from the likes of Parker Mitchell and Kyle Yowell.

Mitchell led the way with 24 points.

Yowell buried five 3-pointers as part of his 21.

Grayson Little added 14 points and 6 boards while Dillion Brimage scored 10.