Great Northern League wins keep Cheney one-game back of league leader East Valley
Cheney's Maggie Smith finds herself surrounded by Clarkston's A.J. Sobotta (23) and Allie Jones
The Cheney High School girls basketball team's magic number last week was 51.
That was the total number of points they needed in each game to notch two more Great Northern League wins - 51-35 on the road at Pullman on Tuesday and 51-43 at home Friday against Clarkston.
In both games, the Lady Blackhawks had decisive defensive quarters to propel them to the win. Cheney outscored Pullman 13-3 in the second quarter to open a 27-18 halftime lead, bumping that to 46-31 through three.
Friday against the Bantams, the Lady Blackhawks used an 11-2 third quarter to turn a 25-24 halftime lead into a 36-26 margin heading into the final eight minutes. In those final minutes, Cheney preserved its win through deadly accuracy at the foul line - going 13 for 14 from the charity stripe, part of a 20-for-23 performance in the second half after shooting just 6 for 13 in the first 16 minutes.
Holly Flynn led Cheney in scoring against Clarkston with 15 points - including a 7-for-7 performance at the line - while also pulling down 10 rebounds. Kristi McGourin added nine and Hailee Huff eight points.
Tuesday at Pullman it was actually the "Maggie Smith Show." The freshman had seven of Cheney's nine 3-point makes, and led all scorers with 26 points.
Flynn added 13 points to go with five rebounds, while McGourin led Cheney on the boards with nine and Huff pulling down eight. Cheney was 12 for 20 at the foul line.
The wins move Cheney's overall record to 7-3, 3-1 in the GNL, one game back of league-leader East Valley. The Lady Blackhawks are 18th in the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association's initial RPI rankings.
Cheney head coach Lorin Carlon said he continues to be happy with his team's performance and progress. Since taking over the Lady Blackhawks' reins last fall, Carlon said he's been trying to figure out what his team is good at, rather than get them to become good at something new.
One of those seems to be the Lady Blackhawk penchant for preferring man-to-man defense over zone, making the latter something fans will see less of as the season progresses. Carlon also likes the fact that there is a new high scorer each game, and that more of his players are emerging as good rebounders, rather than just one.
"If I was getting ready to play Cheney, I'd have to play us straight up," he said. "We're spreading the scoring, spreading the rebounding and so we're becoming a little harder to defend."
Cheney has two games this week, hosting West Valley (1-3, 7-5) in GNL Tuesday before traveling to Medical Lake for the annual Golden Feather Spirit Game with the non-league Cardinals (5-0 Northeast A League, 8-2 overall) tonight (Thursday).
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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