The Cheney boys’ basketball team built a big enough first-half lead that it was able to overcome an old nemesis and earn a 60-54 win at North Central in the season-opener last Friday night.
The Blackhawks played aggressively on both ends of the court, attacking the basket with success despite an Indians front line that averaged 6 feet, 7 inches while also preventing passes inside to that front line on defense, head coach Gregg Smith said. Cheney built a 36-19 lead at the break, but as has happened before, was sluggish out of the locker room in the third quarter, allowing NC to close to within three at 47-44 heading into the fourth.
The Blackhawks closed out the game by controlling the glass, pulling down key offensive rebounds on missed free throws for extra chances at scoring and keeping the ball away from their 3A Greater Spokane League opponent.
“We played three-fourths of a game with great intensity and focus,” Smith said in an email. “(We) need to do a better job of coming out of the locker room after half so we don’t put ourselves in a close game situation.”
Smith added the Blackhawks applied “great ball movement” on offense to generate some easy baskets. Anthony Ehrenberg led Cheney in scoring with 21 points to go with five rebounds, while Jaylen Worthem added 11 and Devon Cook 10.
Smith singled out senior Drake Johnson for his defensive work, helping the Blackhawks deny good entry passes to NC’s taller interior players. Cheney split the rebounding battle with the Indians, 30-32, committed 13 turnovers to their 17, but was just 7 for 14 at the line.
“They (NC) have the biggest lineup we will see all season, and (we) still had 38 points in the paint,” Smith said.
Cheney was to open their home season schedule Tuesday (Dec. 6) by hosting Northeast A League Freeman. The Blackhawks follow that with their first Great Northern League contest Friday (Dec. 9), traveling to West Valley to take on the Eagles.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
Reader Comments(0)