Fourth-quarter Jenks
Late shooting woes doom Cashion as Trojans rally to win TOC opener
If Jenks is indeed the No. 1 team in Class 6A, then the Cashion Wildcats should like their chances in any class.
Cashion gave the Trojans all they wanted for much of the game, but ultimately was saddled with a 53-39 defeat in the opening round of the Tournament of Champions at Tulsa’s BOK Center.
“We definitely scared them,” Cashion coach John Hardaway said.
It was more than a scare.
Cashion led for a good portion of the contest, including 37-36 after three quarters.
But the Trojans’ Gron Tata opened the final quarter with a 3-pointer to kickstart a 17-2 run by Jenks to close out the win.
“We just couldn’t hit a shot in the fourth quarter,” Hardaway said.
Cashion didn’t score in the final quarter until 3:07 remained when Jonah Jenkins’ bucket pulled the Wildcats within 42-39.
Jenks then scored the game’s final 11 points.
Cashion, ranked second in Class 2A, led 16-12 after a quarter and the game was tied at 25 at halftime. The game saw six lead changes and was tied nine different times.
Cashion led by as many as six points in the first half and was up 30-25 with 3:15 left in the third quarter.
Jenks outscored the Wildcats 28-9 over the final 11:15.
The Wildcats were 4 of 10 from 3-point range in the first half, but just 1 of 9 in the second half.
Overall, Cashion was limited to 12 of 43 (27.9 percent) shooting.
Jenks shot 17 of 41 (41.5 percent) for the game.
The Trojans, who improved to 6-0, had three players in double figures.
Chase Martin and Dylan Golightly had 13 points apiece. Benjamin Averitt scored 12 points to go with 11 rebounds and six assists.
Only four Wildcats scored.
Jenkins led all scorers with 22 points. He also had six rebounds.
Vance Raney added 10 points while Austin Frazier scored six.
Cashion played 4A No. 7 Crossings Christian in Tuesday afternoon’s consolation semifinal.
Crossings was defeated 53-35 by Del City in its opener.
(Ed. note: The Tuesday game concluded after press time of this edition. For results of the Tuesday and Wednesday games, see our weekend edition.)