The Cheney High girls basketball team opened the 2018 portion of their schedule with a convincing win against Pullman, but may have let one slip away on the road at Clarkston two days later.
The Lady Blackhawks held a 34-33 lead against the Bantams heading into the fourth quarter, but let that slip away and then some, getting outscored 20-8 en route to a 55-42 setback last Friday. Second-year Cheney head coach Lorin Carlon said the Bantams full-court pressure was what proved to be the difference as the Lady Blackhawks struggled to hang on to possessions.
“We played an OK game,” Carlon said. “If you look at the stats, you’d thought we’d won the game.”
Brette Draper led Cheney with nine points while Maggie Smith and Haley Pemberton each added seven. Neither team shot well from the free throw line, although Cheney had more attempts than their opponent for a change. The Lady Blackhawks went 10 for 25, 40 percent, while Clarkston was eight for 18, 44 percent.
Cheney out rebounded the Bantams, hauling down 41 boards overall, including 17 off the offensive glass.
“Our biggest problem on offensive rebounds is it doesn’t turn into points for us,” Carlon said, adding he and assistant coach Roxanne Smith have been stressing the need to go back up towards the basket after collecting an offensive rebound.
Carlon was pleased with the all-around game the Lady Blackhawks played Jan. 3 against visiting Pullman. The Lady Blackhawks led 29-15 at the half against a team Carlon said should be pretty good once they get all of their players back to full strength, and eventually opened up a 20-point lead in the second half before settling for a 58-47 victory.
Hailee Huff led Cheney with 13 points, with Aijia Loffredi adding 12 and Shelby Draper 10.
“I like that better than a couple of the kids doing all the scoring,” Carlon said.
Cheney goes to 2-2, third place in the Great Northern League behind Clarkston (3-1, 8-2) and top-ranked and undefeated East Valley (4-0, 11-0), and 6-5 overall. The Lady Blackhawks are ranked 23rd in the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s 2A RPI ratings, while Clarkston is 16th.
Cheney has one GNL contest this week before jumping out of league play to wrap up their non-league schedule on Friday, hosting Northeast A League Medical Lake in the annual Golden Feather Spirit Game. The Lady Blackhawks traveled to West Valley on Tuesday to face the fourth-place Eagles (1-3, 6-6).
In Medical Lake (5-0, 8-0), Cheney will face a team that is ranked ninth in the state 1A classification by the WIAA’s RPI ratings, as well as the defending NEA champions.
“Medical Lake is pretty good,” Carlon said, adding as of Tuesday, his focus was more on West Valley than the Cardinals.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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