Cheney's Brette Draper (4) gets off a shot in the first half against East Valley as Kristie McGourin (32) braces for the rebound.
The Cheney High School girls basketball team's fortunes changed a bit with a pair of losses last week, ending their season-opening four-game winning streak.
The Lady Blackhawks fell 54-30 to Idaho 5A classification Lake City at home last Tuesday. The Wolves used a 20-point second quarter to open a 29-14 halftime lead and never looked back, helped by Cheney's 19 turnovers.
Brette Draper led the Lady Blackhawks with 11 points.
Friday, Cheney again struggled in the turnover category against Great Northern League foe East Valley, committing another 19 miscues, many of which were traveling calls. The visiting Knights opened a 26-11 halftime lead, and seemed poised to blow the game open.
But something happened in the Lady Blackhawks halftime locker room as the team that emerged seemed more focused and intense. Cheney outscored East Valley 14-7 in the third to pull within eight at 33-25, and closed that gap further in the fourth.
Cheney tied the game at 35 midway through the fourth quarter, and after an EV bucket, tied it again at 37 on Holly Flynn's two free throws. But they never could get over the hump, and the Knights went on a 17-5 run, keyed by the shooting of guard Elle Burland, to preserve the win.
Kristie McGourin led Cheney with nine points and 11 rebounds while Aija Loffredi tossed in eight points and Flynn seven.
Cheney head coach Lorin Carlon said that when he was coaching at West Valley, they knew that if they went into the second half with a lead against Cheney teams, they would likely quit.
"I don't think we've quit yet," Carlon said of his Lady Blackhawks. "We're still getting better, we're gaining and we're trusting each other."
Cheney drops to 4-2 overall, 1-1 in the GNL. The Lady Blackhawks will spend part of their holiday break playing in the Eagle Classic Tournament at West Valley High School, Dec. 27–29.
Cheney opens against Northeast A League Newport (2-5) on Tuesday, Dec. 27, and follows that with a Wednesday game against Idaho Intermountain League's Priest River (3-5) before finishing Thursday against unbeaten Northeast 2B St. George's (7-0).
Carlon said the tournament will give them an opportunity to work on some new things that will "give us another bullet in our gun" when Cheney resumes GNL play in January. While the turnovers last week were a concern, Carlon said he's OK with mistakes as long as the effort is being made.
"I'm still happy with what I'm seeing," he said.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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