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Walk-on from Lordstown shows her value
By STEVE WILAJ
Looking back, Youngstown State women’s basketball coach John Barnes remembers viewing Sarah Cash as the same as the rest of his players heading into the 2014 season.
But Cash knew she wasn’t like the rest of the group.
See, the 2014 Lordstown High graduate who left the Red Devils as the school’s all-time points and rebounds leader joined the Penguins — unlike the others — as a walk-on.
An ideal situation for Cash? Not exactly.
But she embraced the challenge.
“I knew that the other girls were obviously good because they had scholarships,” Cash said. “So I just had to go out and prove myself — show that I could play with them and that I deserve to be on the court with them.”
One season and six games later, the sophomore forward has done that and more.
Now on scholarship, Cash is one of the main weapons for the undefeated Penguins (6-0). The 6-foot-1 starting power forward is averaging a team-high 14.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game — the walk-on label certainly a thing of the past.
“Sarah is very smart and very hard-working,” Barnes said. “She’s also very coachable. All of those things can end up equaling a very good player.”
At Lordstown, Cash was a very good player from the start.
As a sophomore, she earned special mention All-Ohio honors, before being named first-team all-state as a junior for averaging 22 points and 17 rebounds per game.
But then came the injury.
In the summer before her senior season, Cash tore her ACL in an AAU game. It caused her to miss the start of the season, while it also created a physical and mental obstacle once she returned.
“When I first came back I was definitely slower and more hesitant to be really aggressive for rebounds,” Cash said. “But as I started playing more, everything came back to normal.”
Despite the serious injury, Cash still earned third-team All-Ohio honors as a senior — finishing her highly successful Lordstown career with 1,774 points and 1,294 rebounds before joining YSU as a walk-on.
“She put in a lot of time and effort,” Barnes said. “It was unfortunate for her when she tore an ACL in high school and had to battle back. Even last year, she had the big brace on and it kind of held her back a little bit. Now with the brace off, it really increased her speed and agility. So she’s really come a long way.”
Last season for the Penguins, Cash worked her way from a walk-on to a rotation player while wearing the bulky knee brace. She appeared in 31 games for a 21-11 YSU team, averaging 3.2 points, 2 rebounds and 0.5 blocks in just 10.7 minutes per game.
Although her numbers weren’t overwhelming, she definitely wasn’t overmatched in crucial backup minutes behind starting senior forwards and leading scorers/rebounders Heidi Schlegel and Latisha Walker.
And while she was solid in relieving the two seniors, she also credits them for her quick progression.
“I’m surprised how fast it all came together,” Cash said. “I think it helps that last year I got to play against good competition with Tish and Heidi in practice. It helped with this year with going against the post.”
All Cash has done this year is twice sink game-winning free throws (vs. Canisius on Nov. 13 and vs. Radford on Nov. 20), score 12-plus points five times (career-high 20 points vs. Robert Morris on Nov. 24) and grab eight-plus rebounds four times.
All in a starring role.
No doubt, it’s a far cry from the walk-on status she entered YSU with just a little over a year ago.
“I was just gonna try my hardest, do what the coaches asked and hope that my opportunity would come,” Cash said. “I’m excited about the season so far. We’ve played hard up to this point and we’ll continue to play hard.”
Added Barnes: “We had high expectations for her during the offseason. She’s obviously living up to those.”