Blackhawks find finishing more difficult than starting

Head coach Gregg Smith thinks his Cheney High School boys’ basketball team is on the cusp of a recipe for winning, but lacks one small ingredient — knowing how to finish close games.

In four of the last five games, the Blackhawks have been close in the final minute or two, but haven’t found a way to seal a game they can put in the win column. It’s not something that can be readily taught with X’s and O’s on the chalkboard.

“It’s an experience thing,” Smith said.

Both of Cheney’s losses last week point to finishing. The Blackhawks battled Medical Lake in one of the tightest games they’ve played all year, leading by seven at one point and, with the game tied, possessing the ball with an opportunity for the final shot in regulation before falling 64-58 in overtime to the Cardinals in the annual Golden Feather Spirit Game at home last Thursday.

Two days later on the road in Great Northern League action at East Valley, Cheney fought back from a 38-31 third-quarter deficit to tie the game before the Knights sealed the 55-45 win at the free throw line.

Cheney fought back from an early seven-point deficit Thursday to take a 13-12 lead at the 7:45 mark in the second quarter against the Cardinals. Medical Lake proceeded to go on a 9-0 run to go up 21-13 before the Blackhawks again rallied, taking a 28-26 lead into the halftime locker room on Ty Graham’s drive and lay up at the buzzer.

Neither team managed a lead of more than a couple points until another Graham drive put Cheney up 40-37 late in the third. Back-to-back 3-pointers from sophomore Justace Reiter gave the Blackhawks a 46-37 margin with 1:10 to go in the quarter.

Medical Lake closed that gap, and both teams were tied in the fourth quarter at 49, 52, 54 and 56 when a Cardinals turnover gave Cheney the ball with 31.8 seconds to play. The Blackhawks couldn’t get off a shot, and the Cardinals closed their win by outscoring Cheney 8-2 in the four-minute overtime.

Reiter led Cheney with 11 points while Riley Jones chipped in 10.

Saturday at East Valley, Smith said he was worried his players would have an emotional let down by going from the packed, raucous atmosphere of the ML game to an “empty gym” against the Knights. Instead, the Blackhawks gave their coach the energy and intensity he has come to expect from them, especially late in the game.

Trailing by seven heading into the fourth, Cheney rallied to tie the game at 41 with 2:10 to play. But after the Knights regained the lead with a basket, the Blackhawks failed to answer, missing a lay up with 1:10 to play that forced them to begin fouling. EV hit 11 of their game-total free throws in the final eight minutes.

Jones led Cheney with 16 points and eight rebounds.

The Blackhawks go to 0-5 in GNL play, 4-8 overall. With the exception of the 29-point loss to defending state 2A champion Clarkston Jan. 8, Cheney has been either tied or had leads late in the fourth quarter in two losses to East Valley as well as West Valley and Medical Lake.

“I feel we’re right on the edge, I really do,” Smith said. “I think we’re going to get some wins down the stretch heading into the playoffs.”

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