CHENEY – It took a while, but Blackhawks interim basketball head coach James Whiteley finally had his first varsity win — and a 10-game losing streak is ended.
Cheney rallied from a five-point, third-quarter deficit to outscore East Valley 24-9 in the final eight minutes last Friday night, Feb. 7, for a much-needed 70-60 win on the road. The Blackhawks were led by the 19 points of Quinsie Goodloe, with fellow senior Peyton McPherson adding 18 and sophomore Tavin West 13 points as Cheney collected just its second Great Northern League win of the season and first for Whiteley, who took over as interim after first-year head coach Frankie Keplinger was placed on administrative leave Jan. 21.
“We played defense well,” Whiteley said. “We hustled after the ball and it was a tremendous team effort.”
Whiteley singled out McPherson, who had a breakout game offensively and has been steadily improving each week.
It was a good end to a week that began with two more losses, the first a 61-33 setback at home to West Valley Tuesday, Feb. 4, where Cheney managed to score just 12 points in the second half to the Eagles 27. Goodloe and McPherson led Cheney in scoring with eight points each.
The second was an 82-54 home loss to Clarkton the next night where after falling behind 40-25 at the half, the Blackhawks managed to pull within 10 at 42-32 early in the third quarter.
From there the Bantams went on a 21-0 run — led by the 12 points of senior guard Tru Allen — to extend their margin to 63-32 and the rest was history.
West led Cheney in scoring with 15 points, with Trinidad Richardson adding 10.
Cheney sits at 2-9 in the GNL, fifth, and 3-16 overall. The Blackhawks wrapped up their regular season at home on Tuesday, Feb. 11, against second-place Pullman (6-5, 10-9).
The outcome of that game and the contest between third-place West Valley (5-6, 9-10) and league leading Clarkston (10-1, 14-5) determines who Cheney will face in the opening round of the District 7 tournament this Friday, Feb.14, at University High School in Spokane.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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