CHENEY – The Lady Blackhawks solidified their hold on fourth place in the Great Northern League with a key road win last Saturday in Pullman.
Cheney used the hot 3-point shooting tandem of Maggie Smit and Emma Evans to open a 23-4 first quarter lead, expanding that to 46-21 at the half en route to a 73-30 rout of the under-manned Greyhounds. Smith and Evans went 6 for 7 from beyond the arc in the first quarter, with Smith nailing four 3-pointers and Evans two — including four from the pair within the space of 90 seconds.
Cheney shot 50 percent for the game from downtown, and over 60 percent from the court overall. Smith led all scorers with 23 points, with Evans and Avery Stark each adding 14.
Head coach Roxie Smith said it’s hard to set a good game pace and focus in games such as was played in Pullman. Going into the match up with the Greyhounds, last in the GNL at 0-7 and 3-12 overall, Smith said she and her coaches stressed playing with a “winners’ mentality.”
We left that game with the goal of playing every team that way,” she added.
The win wrapped up a week that began with losses to the Great Northern League’s two Spokane Valley schools. The Lady Blackhawks opened with a 65-50 loss on the road at sixth-ranked West Valley on Tuesday, Jan. 21, and followed that with a 55-48 loss at home to No. 9 East Valley in a game that was tied after three quarters at 37 all.
In the final eight minutes against the Knights, Cheney turned the ball over at a couple crucial moments and committed some unnecessary fouls that helped the visitors outscore the hosts 18-11 for the win. The Lady Blackhawks shot 37 percent from the field overall compared to East Valley’s 61 percent, and were 38 percent from 3-point range.
Smith led Cheney with 14 points, with Evans adding 11. Smith said the Knights doubled Cheney in points off turnovers, second-chance points and points in the paint.
Tuesday against GNL-leading West Valley the Lady Blackhawks struggled with an aspect of their game they have battled all season long — the second quarter. After trailing 19-13 through the first eight minutes, Cheney found a lid clamped on their basket as they were outscored 19-9 in the second frame and played the rest of the game from behind in the loss.
Smith was the only Cheney player to score in double figures with 15 points. The Lady Blackhawks shot just over 29 percent from beyond the arc, a place they typically are well above 35 percent, and committed 20 turnovers against West Valley’s pressure defense compared to the Eagles 14.
“That’s unusual for us,” Roxie Smith said. “We haven’t been a 20-turnover team all season.”
Cheney goes to 2-5 in GNL play and 5-8 overall. The Lady Blackhawks could make things interesting heading into the final round of league if they can pull off an upset on the road against 17th-ranked Clarkston (4-2, 11-3) Tuesday night.
Cheney’s other game this week is a non-league contest Thursday, Jan. 30, at Greater Spokane League’s Rogers. The Pirates are struggling at 0-8 and 1-12, and Smith said they hope to use the game to work on some new sets they’ve implemented for the final rotation of GNL games.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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