Cheney girls drop sixth straight

The 2023 tailspin continued last week for the Cheney girls as they dropped a pair of Greater Spokane League basketball games.

The Blackhawks, who are winless in GSL play, lost 73-45 to league co-leader Mead at home Jan. 17 and traveled to drop a 59-17 outing at Lewis and Clark Jan. 20 where the losing streak reached six.

Mead (5-0 GSL, 10-3 overall), one of the upper-level teams in state rankings used a fast start, led 45-25 at half and did not lift its feet from the gas pedal until the fourth quarter.

Shauna Elliot’s 10 points and Macey Richards nine led the Blackhawks.

Lewis and Clark (3-2, 6-9) proved, perhaps, tougher on defense limiting Cheney to single-digit points in each quarter, led 35-9 at halftime and actually shut out the Blackhawks in the third, 15-0. Macey Richards’s six points were tops for Cheney.

Head coach Ken Ryan provided some perspective on the week, relative to the current distance that appears to separate Cheney from the rest of the GSL, writing in an email.

“Cheney has only placed at state four times and the teams we are playing have won state multiple times and have placed at state in the teens,” he said. “It’s going to take time and hard work.”  

This week, Cheney (0-5, 4-11) was home for a pair of games to Ridgeline (1-4, 9-6) Jan. 24 and Mt. Spokane (4-1, 8-7) Jan. 27 with that Friday game being Senior Night with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.

Paul Delaney is a retired Free Press Publishing reporter and can be reached at [email protected].