Lady Blackhawks earn split of road action last week

The Cheney Lady Blackhawks girls’ basketball team ran their non-league, pre-season record to 2-3 with a split of hard court action last week. The girls had little trouble knocking off former Great Northern League opponent Deer Park on the road Tuesday, Dec. 9, 59-17, but struggled with consistency in a 58-26 loss at Idaho 3A Timberlake Friday, Dec. 12.

Second-year head coach Shannon Root said the Lady Blackhawks played a good game against the 0-5 Stags, now members of the Northeast A League. Cheney played as a unit and moved the ball offensively, attacking the basket at every opportunity.

“Overall, they pushed the ball up the floor really well,” Root said.

The Lady Blackhawks were looking to pass to find the best shot, effectively working the ball into their post players. Cheney opened with a 15-2 lead after one quarter, and scored in double digits in all four periods.

“They did a good job of widening the floor,” Root said.

Freshman Hannah Lemelin led Cheney in scoring with 12, with Kendyl Cone adding 11. Ten of the 11 Lady Blackhawks found their way into the scoring column.

Friday in Spirit Lake, Idaho, against 8-1 Timberlake was a different story for Cheney. That story was inconsistency.

The Lady Blackhawks outscored an attacking, aggressive Tigers team 21-17 in the first and third quarters, but got pummeled 41-5 in the second and fourth periods in the loss. Timberlake was also a good shooting team, Root said, something indicated not only by a high shooting percentage from the field, but also from a 22 for 26 performance at the free-throw line.

For their part, when the Lady Blackhawks were playing well it was the defense creating opportunities, such as during the first quarter where they took away Timberlake’s cutters and denied their shooters good looks at the basket. But Root said the effort took a toll physically on Cheney, and it was when they got tired that the Tigers seized the advantage.

“It was the fact that we were not consistent that really hurt us in that game,” Root said Monday afternoon. “I think we are going to get more consistent as the season goes on.”

No Lady Blackhawk players scored in double digits. Cone led Cheney with six points, while Hannah Lemelin chipped in five.

Cheney has one game this week, the GNL opener on the road at Clarkston, 1-3, on Dec. 18. The Lady Bantams were 13-12 last season; earning a No. 3 seed to the district playoffs and eliminating the Lady Blackhawks in opening round action.

Root said Clarkston returns a few seniors from that team, and as always, is a team that looks to shoot a lot from the perimeter, sometimes well behind the 3-point arc.

“We just need to make sure our defense closes out (on the shooters),” she said.

After Clarkston, Cheney is off for the holiday break, returning to action Dec. 29 in a home rematch with Deer Park, followed by a 2 p.m. game the next day with Idaho 3A school Bonner’s Ferry, played at West Valley High School.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].