Cheney Free Press -

CHENEY – After a tough stretch of losses to start the season, the Cheney Blackhawks finally left their home gymnasium with a win.

The Blackhawks (1-3) boys topped Shadle Park (1-2), 74-71, on their home court Wednesday, Dec. 8.

The team started strong with a 27-point, first quarter effort and was able to defend a late game rally from Shadle Park to pull out a 3-point victory.

Cheney had a 40-30 lead at the half. The Highlanders closed the gap a bit in the third quarter, outscoring the Blackhawks 23-15.

But a 19-18 margin in the fourth quarter sealed the Cheney win.

Box score

Cheney

27 13 15 19 74

Shadle Park

15 15 23 18 71

Sophomore Evan Stinson is technically a forward, but he plays all over the court.

Stinson said he loved his team’s hustle, but said players weren’t comfortable enough with the offense to execute properly to get wins over West Valley (Spokane Valley) or University.

Senior guard Josh Whiteley said he loved how the team played West Valley in the first half.

They went into the locker room with the lead, but failed to keep that same energy when they stepped back on the court.

Looking forward to Shadle Park, Whitely was excited to take advantage of the open looks and keep the offensive execution steady.

Stinson echoed this sentiment and said he, too, had been looking forward to executing Coach Tierre Warren’s entire offense to get the win against Shadle Park.

Warren said it’s still early in the season.

Going into Ferris, the team attempted to find their groove on Friday night, Dec. 10, and keep up the momentum earned against Shadle Park.

Warren was looking for his team to play good defense and focus on playing team ball so they could play to their strengths and “run our stuff.”

Unfortunately, the Blackhawks couldn’t keep that momentum against Ferris and fell at home, 44-69.

Against the Saxons, Cheney jumped out to a 13-12 first quarter lead, but couldn’t keep the tempo.

In the second quarter, the Saxons held the Blackhawks to just 2 points while racking up 20 of their own.

Ferris took a 32-15 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Ferris was on fire in the third quarter, putting up 22 more points while holding Cheney to just 13.

Cheney rallied in the fourth to close the margin, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the 54-28 deficit at the end of the third quarter.

Box score

Cheney

12 2 13 16 44

Ferris

13 20 22 15 69

Cheney has three games on the schedule this week.

Prior to press time, the Blackhawks boys were scheduled to host Lewis and Clark (1-4) at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 14.

On Friday, Dec. 17, they will host the Central Valley Bears; tipoff is at 7 p.m.

And the Blackhawks will wrap up its pre-holiday games Saturday, Dec. 18, in Wenatchee. Tipoff there is at 5:15