SPOKANE — The Cheney girls let Shadle Park have the lead for one quarter last Saturday afternoon before shutting the door on the visitors to claim a 58-44 non-league basketball victory, Dec. 16 at home.
The win, Cheney’s second of the season in six games, gave them a 1-1 record for the week following a 43-30 loss at Lewis and Clark, Dec. 12.
The Blackhawks trailed 15-14 to the Highlanders (0-5) after the opening eight minutes but then gave up just 11 points in the next two quarters.
“Down by one point after the first quarter, we were able to adjust, tighten up our defense and start running the floor a little bit more,” head coach Meredith Richards wrote in an email.
Macey Richards led Cheney with another double-double, 10 points and 24 rebounds. You read correctly, 24 rebounds nine of which came on the offensive end, her coach reminded.
Allison Vold (9 points), Kayelee Kohlman (8), Natalie Richards (8) and Hannah Ward (7) were all knocking on the double figures door.
“The return of Mia Ashcroft for Shadle and future games is a huge win for us,” Richards said. “Ashcroft has more experience and has developed more confidence handling ball pressure,” and is in her third year on varsity.
Following the loss of Paige Evans with a broken wrist, a pair of sophomores have earned large roles in the starting lineup, Richards noted.
“They are doing great with the huge task they’ve been assigned,” she said.
Against 4-1 LC, the matchup provided what Richards called “A good lesson in figuring out how to adjust in a game.”
The Blackhawks lead after the opening quarter 9-4 but the Tigers made adjustments to dominate with a 16-2 edge on the way to halftime. Cheney was just 1-for-9 from the floor in that quarter.
“We only shot 32 percent from the floor, and 44 percent from the free throw line,” Richards said. “(But) we only allowed them to get six offensive boards by blocking out. Taking away those second chance points is huge.”
Macey Richards had 12 points, plus 16 rebounds — the first of her pair of double-doubles for the week — and was the only Blackhawk in double figures.
Cheney will take to the road for a three-game-in-three-day tournament at Eastmont near Wenatchee (Dec. 20-22) “To play some tough west side competition as well as West Valley of Yakima,” Richards said.
“It should be a great team bonding experience and hopefully we can pull all of the little things we’ve been working on together and head into a break for Christmas with a big smile on our faces,” Richards added.
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