Blackhawks suffer another one that got away

Losing to Clarkston hurt.

It’s been a while since a Cheney High boys basketball team was able to say that, but the Blackhawks 56-54 setback to the visiting Bantams in Great Northern League action last Saturday was not only felt in the standings, but afterwards in the locker room. For head coach Gregg Smith, the impact on his players is because they are in a position where all of the games mean something — especially for the postseason.

Leading by five at the half, Cheney had one of those third quarters where whatever was discussed in the locker room failed to materialize on the court. The Blackhawks shot horribly, going 4 for 11 as Clarkston rallied to take a 49-43 lead.

The shooting woes continued in the fourth — Cheney was 3 for 15 from the field — but the Blackhawks somehow erased almost all of an eight-point deficit. In the end, Cheney had the final possession and a shot to tie the game, but came up short.

Clarkston’s Tru Allen led all scorers with 25 points while 6-foot-9-inch forward Brandton Chatfield added 16.

Jake Berman and Camden VerStrate paced Cheney with 14 points each, with Devin Cook adding 11. While struggling from the field, the Blackhawks were a perfect 9 for 9 from the foul line.

But that was part of the problem, Smith said. Cheney had just nine foul shots.

Foul shots also bit the Blackhawks 24 hours earlier on the road in Pullman. Cheney put itself in a hole against the league-leading Greyhounds with a five-point first quarter, but battled back to pull within eight points down the stretch in the fourth.

But to get closer, the Blackhawks needed to foul, and Pullman capitalized on that by going 11 for 14 from the line to preserve a 71-57 win. By contrast, Cheney had just three attempts from the charity stripe in the frame.

Jake and Nick Berman each had 18 points for the Blackhawks, with VerStrate adding 15. Pullman’s Jake Wells led all scorers with 29.

Cheney assured itself no lower than a fourth-place finish by downing East Valley 72-59 at home last Tuesday. The Blackhawks started well and finished pretty well, helped by 17 for 25 shooting at the line.

Cheney led by as much as 24 points in the fourth quarter before the Knights mounted a late rally against the Blackhawks bench, led by three consecutive three-point plays that made the score closer than the game actually was.

“The subs played well,” Smith said. “You hate to do that, put your young guys in who are excited to play, and then pull them out but you need the league win.”

Cheney shot 59 percent from two-point range and 33.3 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. Cook led all scorers with 17 points, with Justace Reiter knocking down 16 and Jack Berman 10.

Cheney drops to 3-5 in GNL play, 6-10 overall heading into the last four-game go around in league play. The Blackhawks are assured of a No. 4 seed in the upcoming playoffs, holding a three-game lead over East Valley (0-8, 2-13).

A win over Clarkston would have moved Cheney into third and given them two wins over the Bantams, just about assuring them of any tiebreaker scenario that might arise. Now, Smith said that battle will likely come down to the season finale Feb. 2 in Clarkston.

It’s a position Smith said his team hasn’t been in before, or any Cheney boys basketball team in a while. Besides one more game with the Knights, the Blackhawks also have home games against the Greyhounds and second-place West Valley.

“We’re still fighting to move up, which I’m excited about,” Smith said.

Hawks’ Boxes

1 2 3 4 Total

East Valley 15 15 13 16 59

Cheney 20 20 19 13 72

Cook 17, J. Berman 10, Omlin 5, VerStrate 8, Reiter 16, Custer 0, McPherson 2, Baycroft 9, N. Berman 5, Hemenway 0.

1 2 3 4 Total

Cheney 5 24 16 12 57

Pullman 15 21 15 20 71

Cook 4, J. Berman 18, Beck 0, VerStrate 15, Reiter 0, N. Berman 18.

1 2 3 4 Total

Clarkston 15 13 21 7 56

Cheney 16 17 10 11 54

Cook 11, J. Berman 14, Beck 2, Omlin 9, VerStrate 14, Reiter 2, Hemenway 0, Baycroft 2, N. Berman 0.

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