Cheney drops opener to Ridgeline

Playing shorthanded was only part of what played into the Cheney girls dropping their first basketball game of the season, 67-35 to Greater Spokane League rival, Nov. 30 at home.

In the debut of new head coach Meredith Richards, there was just not enough offense, the the Blackhawks were missing a pair of key performers.

"Hannah Ward in California for a cross country invite and Mia Ashcroft out with an injury, we just ran out of gas," Richards wrote in an email.

Cheney was led by a trio who were knocking on the door of a double-figure scoring effort.

Paige Evans led with eight followed by

Macey Richards and Kiah Klauss both with seven.

The low output might be attributed to a couple of areas, inside the paint where they shot 36% and free throws which were at 37%.

"We aim to hit 70% for free throws every day in practice so this is a disappointing stat," Richards said.

She attributed things in large part to first game jitters, "And that we can play up to our potential as the season progresses."

"Sarah Hanson definitely stepped it up on defense this game, holding (Ridgeline's) Grace Sheridan to 14 of her 34 points in the second half," Richards said.

Cheney had a chance to test theories this week with a game at North Central (Dec. 5), home vs. University (Dec. 8) and at Wenatchee, Dec. 9.