Cardinal boys collect OT Spirit victory

The Cheney Blackhawks, and now the Riverside Rams will be darn glad when Cory Wagner has suited up for his last basketball game.

First the senior guard delivered his second consecutive knockout blow - a 3-point shot from the left side of the arc in overtime that gave his team a 62-58 lead with 12 seconds left in overtime - to deliver a 64-58 win for Cardinals over the Blackhawks in the Golden Feather Spirit Game Thursday night in Cheney.

It was exactly a year ago on Jan. 14 that Wagner hit a buzzer-beating 3-point shot that rallied the Cardinals past the Blackhawks 36-35 in Medical Lake.

Wagner followed that by coming out of a recent scoring funk and poured in 41 points in the Cardinals' 85-33 crushing of visiting Riverside (0-7 Northeast A League, 1-11 overall) Saturday night. Wagner had 25 of his team's 37 first-quarter points.

The wins late in the week eased the pain a little from a 90-68 Medical Lake loss at Lakeside (5-1, 9-3).

Thursday's game did not count in the NEA standings, but the outing at Cheney delivered something better for Medical Lake (5-2, 8-4), an eighth consecutive spirit trophy win, the last six against the Blackhawks.

Medical Lake battled through a physical contest before a packed gym in Cheney (4-8) trailing by five, 48-43 heading into the final quarter. "There was a little bit of football going on out there," Cardinals' head coach Arnold Brown said. "It's a Spirit Game and it gets a little intense out there."

While it was Wagner who iced it for Medical Lake versus the Blackhawks, another pair of seniors, Jaelon Stith and Donte Brown did much of the heavy lifting for the Cardinals.

Of Stith's 20 points, 13 came in the second half with nine in the third and a crucial free throw, rebound and put-back basket in overtime that broke the 56-all tie and put the Cardinals up 59-56 with 2:05 to play in the extra period. Medical Lake outscored Cheney 8-2 in the extra period.

"Jaelon started out in foul trouble and he just hung in there," Brown said. "He didn't play much in the first half and established himself in the second."

As for Donte Brown, who delivered 12 points, he did so amidst the fervor of the rivalry game, and another distraction. "Donte was consistent all game, it was his birthday," Brown said of his son, a senior who turned 18 amidst a chorus of "Happy Birthday," from Medical Lake fans.

Brown praised the support that was evident from the school and community with so many fans and school people present. "We have 400 students in the school and more than three-fourths were there."

"It was one of those situations where your crowd won't allow you to let down," Brown said.

Saturday night Wagner may have still been riding the adrenaline from Thursday as he was lights-out from long-range. "Most teams don't match his seven 3s and he had seven in one quarter," Brown said.

On a normal night Stith's 17 points would have been big news. And so might have Cole Soliday's near double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds. On the road at Lakeside the Cardinals were unable keep up with the hot-shooting Eagles who rolled to a 49-24 halftime lead behind Cameron Gay's 29 points. Stith had 16 points, Donte Brown 11 as did Cooper James for the Cardinals who were dogged with 27 turnovers.

"They just got hot and when a good team gets hot like that it's kind of hard to stop," Brown said.

The second half of the NEA season began this past Tuesday with a trip to Freeman. Medical Lake remains on the road Friday at Chewelah at 7:30 p.m. and they play the makeup nonleague game at Rogers (3-10) Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.