Rusty Lady Blackhawks knock off Pullman

See a photo gallery from the event here.

A challenging week for the Cheney High School girls basketball team - and likely all Cheney squads - ended with a 1-2 record in Great Northern League play.

The Martin Luther King holiday on Monday, plus two days missed from weather-related school cancellations, left the Lady Blackhawks with only one practice for three games. Cheney dropped a pair of games, 49-39 at league-leading East Valley on Jan. 17 and a hard-fought 68-61 decision at Clarkston Saturday. In between, the Lady Blackhawks wasted little time against visiting Pullman Friday, racing to a 20-7 first quarter league in the 71-43 thumping of the Greyhounds.

That first quarter was essentially "The Maggie Smith Show." The freshman provided Cheney's first nine points, all from 3-point range, with her second one putting the Lady Blackhawks up for good at 6-5.

Haley Pemberton made it four straight 3s to give Cheney a 12-5 lead, and Brette Draper made it five in the quarter for an 18-7 lead late. The Lady Blackhawks hit three more 3s in the first 66 seconds of the second period, including Smith's fourth and one by Aija Loffredi giving them a 29-7 lead, eventually stretching that to 37-11 before Pullman finally got some offense and defense put together.

Smith and Pemberton each had 15 points to pace Cheney, with Loffredi adding 12. The key for Cheney came on the glass, pulling down 47 rebounds including 22 offensively, led by Kristie McGourin with 12 boards and eight from Pemberton.

At Clarkston, the Lady Blackhawks found themselves in a see-saw battle with the second-place Bantams, leading after one quarter, trailing at the half and tied going into the fourth period. Clarkston took a lead, but Cheney whittled that down to two points late in the game before the clock worked against them and they had to begin fouling.

Pemberton led Cheney in scoring with 14, while Holly Flynn and Hailee Huff each added eight.

Head coach Lorin Carlon said the Lady Blackhawks played well on both sides of the ball, but were hurt by too many turnovers - a figure he didn't want to divulge. Most of the trouble came from dribbling too much.

"If we don't turn the ball over, we can beat them," Carlon said. "Heck, we've got a chance to beat anybody."

Last Tuesday at East Valley against the Knights, ranked eighth in the RPI, Cheney didn't get on track offensively until the second half, trailing 21-10 at the break and 35-22 after three. Flynn led Cheney in scoring with nine points.

The Lady Blackhawks are third in the GNL at 4-4, 9-7 overall; trailing Clarkston by a game and East Valley by three. Cheney enters the final third of league play this week, traveling to West Valley on Tuesday and returning home to host the Knights Saturday.

Carlon said his team is finally healthy, entering practice this week with the same 10 player lineup they had after the first games of the season.

"We need to get a little tougher when opponents get physical with us," he said. "But they're getting better, they really are."

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

See a photo gallery from the event here.