Blackhawks bow out of District 7 playoffs at Pullman

The Cheney High boys basketball team enjoyed one of its better offensive performances Tuesday night, Feb. 7, in Pullman. The Blackhawks tallied 73 points, tying their previous season high Dec. 28 against Colville.

Unfortunately, the second-seeded Greyhounds scored 10 points more, ending the Blackhawks’ season 83-73 in a first-round, loser-out game in District 7 play. Cheney enjoyed an 18-17 edge after the first quarter, but got roughed up a bit in the second, trailing 42-30 at the half.

The Blackhawks cut that margin to six at the end of the third, and kept it there through the first minutes of the final quarter. Pullman put the game away by hitting a number of free throws down the stretch, going 29 for 35 at the line in comparison to Cheney’s 14 of 20.

What hurt Cheney the most was their lack of height and size. The Greyhounds out rebounded the Blackhawks 33-30, and scored 46 of their 85 points in the paint.

“We’ll take 73 any night of the week,” head coach Gregg Smith said. “We just can’t let them catch the ball that much inside.”

Cheney had multiple players score in double figures for one of the few times this season. Devin Cook led the Blackhawks with 17 points, while Justace Reiter added 15 and Nick Berman 14.

Cheney ends the season with an overall record of 8-13, 1-11 in Great Northern League play. The overall mark is three games better than last year’s 5-15 mark, but the results leave Smith frustrated, especially a repeat record in the GNL.

“I feel like we should’ve got more wins,” he said.

Cheney’s only league win came Jan. 17 at East Valley, and the team ended with a seven-game losing streak. Smith said he saw improvement over the final four games, however, and feels they have plenty to look forward to next season.

One of those is getting a bit taller. The four seniors who graduate average 6 feet, 1.75 inches in height, ranging from 5-8 to 6-2.

With the 6-3 Reiter likely to return for his senior season, the Blackhawks will probably add two players over 6-0, and one at 6-3, from the junior varsity squad. Smith said while they won’t be the tallest team in the league, they won’t be the smallest either, as they were for most of this season.

Smith said this year’s team played with more continuity and better ball movement than the squad that marked his first year as head coach last season. They also showed improvement in shooting.

“That started to pick up down the stretch, but we just didn’t get guys better looks,” Smith added.

One area of improvement will come on defense where they Blackhawks will need to improve on doubling other team’s post players. They also need to hit the weight room more, something that will help in rebounding.

While disappointed in the lack of more wins, Smith likes the way the underclassmen on varsity stepped up and played, especially late in the season. With players coming up from a JV team that played more to his preferred fast-paced style, Smith sees many positives for the future.

“We’ve just got to play together,” he said. “We’ve got to spend time in the gym.”

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.