Blackhawks find pace in Golden Feather win at Reese Court

Cheney High’s boys basketball head coach Gregg Smith believes the past two wins for his Blackhawks have been the results of his team finally beginning to connect more with their identity — a squad that thrives on a fast-paced, pressure-filled game.

The Blackhawks went 2-3 in week one of a stretch of six games in two weeks, earning non-league wins over Idaho 4A Lakeland and Northeast A League Medical Lake — the latter helping Cheney secure its first Golden Feather Spirit Game win in 12 tries against their West Plains rival.

The game with the Cardinals was close at the beginning, but in the second quarter Cheney’s pressure defense finally began to lead to offensive results. The Blackhawks went on a 15-3 run late in the quarter that turned a 27-23 margin into a 42-26 lead at the break.

Medical Lake, who was hosting the spirit game played at Eastern Washington University’s Reese Court, cut the margin to 51-41 at the 3:15 mark in the third quarter, but that was as close as they would get. The Blackhawks defense, often limiting the Cardinals to just one shot on offense, helped create an 11-2 run to close out the quarter.

Cheney eventually led by as much as 23 points, 72-49, before both coaches emptied their benches in the final three minutes, allowing substitutes and some junior varsity players to finish out the Blackhawks 80-62 win last Saturday, Jan. 12.

Cheney had five players in double figure scoring, led by Devin Cook’s 14 points. Kaiden Custer had 13 points, followed by Nick Berman with 12 and Thomas Baycroft and Jake Berman with 10 each.

Jake Berman and Custer led Cheney in rebounding with nine and eight boards respectively. The Blackhawks had 17 assists — six by Nick Berman — and 16 turnovers while forcing 20 Medical Lake miscues.

“That seems like a lot, but in a fast-paced game, it’s not that bad,” Smith said.

Against the Hawks from Rathdrum, Idaho, it was even better. Cheney had 22 assists and 15 turnovers while forcing Rathdrum in to over 30 mistakes in the 78-65 home win last Friday, Jan. 11.

The results were nine more offensive possessions for the Blackhawks than their opponents. Cheney shot 55 percent from 2-point range (21 for 38) and 33 percent (7 for 21) from beyond the 3-point arc. They were also 83 percent (15 for 18) from the charity stripe.

Camden VerStrate led Cheney with 20 points, with Cook pouring in 19 and Jake Berman adding 12. The offensive stats led to Cheney averaging 1.05 points per possession, something Smith said was a goal for them this season.

Against Medical Lake, the Blackhawks averaged 1.03.

“So far this year, when we’ve been above one point per possession, we’ve won every game,” Smith said.

That wasn’t the case last Tuesday, Jan. 8, at Clarkston as Cheney couldn’t buy a bucket until the fourth quarter. The Blackhawks couldn’t get into a rhythm, lacking movement and making poor shot selections in their 58-47 Great Northern League loss to the second-place (4-2, 6-7) resurgent Bantams.

VerStrate led Cheney with 15 points, with Cook and Baycroft each adding 10.

Cheney moves to 2-3 in GNL play, 7-6 overall. They began the second round of league play on Tuesday, Jan. 15, with a road game at West Valley — originally scheduled for Cheney but swapped with the Feb. 5 match up due to scheduling conflicts.

The Blackhawks stay on the road Friday, Jan. 18, with a game at East Valley and then return home to face GNL leader Pullman. It’s a busy schedule that provides Cheney with chance to move up in the GNL standings, but against some tough teams as Pullman (12-1) is currently ranked No.2 in 2A in the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) and West Valley (10-3) is No. 9.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].