Cashion swept by #1 Dale in regular season finale

After his game was over and he was trying to unwind, Dale girls coach Eric Smith was nothing but complimentary as Cashion players walked by on Monday.

His Lady Pirates, the topranked team in Class 2A, had just defeated Cashion 64-50 on its home floor.

The game put an end to the regular season for both teams as Cashion finished 15-10 while Dale improved to 23-2.

Both teams turn to the playoffs and while most feel it’s a foregone conclusion that Dale will end up in Oklahoma City that second weekend in March, it’s not such a given for No. 15 Cashion.

“If they play like that,” Smith said, “they’re going to be tough to beat.”

Dale used a quick start to gain an early advantage it never lost. However, Smith’s team couldn’t pull away.

There were reasons. “Their size is tough to deal with,” Smith said at one time.

“She was really good tonight,” he said at another point.

The latter comment came after Kate Nabavi walked by.

The sophomore guard scored 8 of her 13 points in the second half when Cashion outscored Dale 22-21.

Also “big” in the second half was that size Smith spoke of in Brooke Shafer.

The junior forward was limited to 2 points in the first half, but finished with 14. Another forward, Jaylee Harp, scored 10.

Dale countered that size with the long ball.

The Lady Pirates drained 11 3-pointers. There were the usual suspects, but post Danika Pendley shot 5 of 6 from long range as part of her 24 points.

Dale also got 15 points from Skylar Anderson and 10 from Peyton Bays.

The Lady Pirates were up 22-14 after a quarter and stretched it to double digits.

Cashion kept in it and pulled within 27-21 on Tinley Meier’s bucket under the basket on an inbound play.

Harp’s basket with 2:22 left made it 32-26, but Dale went on an 11-0 run before the end of the half.

Then early in the third quarter, Pendley nailed one of her 3-pointers for a 48-28 advantage.

Shafer scored 9 in the third quarter to help keep Cashion in it.

She couldn’t be stopped last Friday in Cashion’s 63-15 win over Tonkawa at home.

Shafer poured in 25 points as the Lady Wildcats dominated from the start.

They were up 10-0 after a quarter and 28-2 at the half. Tonkawa didn’t surpass single digits until the fourth quarter.

Lily Stuemky chipped in 10 points and Nabavi scored 9 in that win.

Cashion returns home Thursday to host Watonga in a Class 2A district.

Pirates appear in good shape for 5-peat

Dale has won four straight Class 2A boys basketball championships and is the heavy favorite to win No. 5.

The Pirates showed why on Monday night.

Showing off all their vast array of skills, the Pirates downed Cashion 87-48 in the final regular season game for both teams.

Dale enters the playoffs this week with a 23-2 record while Cashion is 15-9.

The Wildcats host Watonga in a 2A district on Thursday and do so with a three-game losing skid.

In between the loss to 2A’s No. 1 Pirates and Class A No. 1 Okarche was a 77-60 defeat at home last Friday to Tonkawa.

In that game, Cashion jumped out to a 25-10 lead in the first quarter. However, the Bucs went on a 21-7 run of their own in the second and then outscored Cashion by 18 in the second half.

Parker Mitchell scored 24 for the Wildcats while Kyle Yowell chipped in 10.

There was no jumping out on Dale. The teams traded buckets in the early going before the Pirates closed strong to lead 19-8.

They steadily added to that advantage over the final three quarters.

As is usually the case, University of Tulsa signee Denton Forsythe led the charge.

The senior, who has never lost a playoff game in his Dale career, scored 34 points and had 5 rebounds.

He poured in 12 in the second quarter as the Pirates held off Cashion’s best offensive frame.

That’s when the Wildcats made three of their four 3-pointers for the game, two on back-to-back possessions to keep Cashion within striking distance.

But Forsythe added 10 more in the second and Jeremiah Skaggs made two of his four treys to go on a 22-12 run.

Skaggs finished with 18. Dale shot 63 percent for the game, including 12 of 25 (48 percent) from 3-point range.

Cashion was held to 35 percent overall and was just 4 of 20 (20 percent) on 3-pointers. Cashion also committed 16 turnovers.

Mitchell led the way with 12 points.

Yowell scored 11 and King Underwood came off the bench to score 9.