Cheney's Natalie Richards (1) and Shadle's Addison Jahn battle for a loose ball in a Dec. 17 game won by the Blackhawks 46-33.
The Cheney girls' basketball team won two of three non-league games last week, including the first of the season.
On Dec. 13 the Blackhawks beat Lewis and Clark 46-42, Cheney's initial victory for 2022-23, then went on the road for two games where they lost to Ridgeline 47-32, Dec. 16 before topping Shadle 46-33 Dec. 17.
Coming out of the halftime break and outscoring LC 13-5 allowed Cheney to withstand the visitor's fourth-quarter 17-12 rally. Shauna Elliott led all scorers with 18 points and Hannah Ward added 12.
Cheney was never able to make up the 15-0 deficit they faced after the first quarter at Ridgeline where Macey Richards led the Blackhawks with nine points.
"The Ridgeline game we fought back and got into the game, just a little too late," head coach Ken Ryan wrote in an email.
At Shadle, the Blackhawks had some stout first-half defense, outscoring the Highlanders 19-5. "Shadle's game first half went really well and (we) played a lot of underclassmen," Ryan said. Tatum Sloan with 11 and Macey Richards' 10 points paced Cheney.
Ryan further highlighted the roles of those Shadle game standouts, but from a different perspective.
"Macey Richards, our junior post really has been stepping up for us on defense and rebounding the ball well," he said. "Our guard play is improving as well, led by Tatum Sloan."
As with Cheney's boys' team there is little break time for the girls who hosted Southridge of Kennewick Dec. 21, followed by two games at the West Valley Tournament, Dec. 28 and 29 before regular-season Greater Spokane League play resumes at Mt. Spokane, Jan. 3.
Paul Delaney is a retired Free Press Publishing reporter and can be reached at [email protected].
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