The 'what-if's' of Cheney season

CHENEY - In the world of sports there's always the opportunity or desire to glance into in the "what-if" mirror.

And Cheney boys' second-year head coach Travis Peevey is no more immune to the practice than anyone following his team's 3-8 Greater Spokane League finish and 9-13 overall record.

Those marks, however, are ticks in the right direction after going 0-9 and 6-14 his first season.

"Our record does not reflect how close we really were to being one of the top teams in the league," Peevey wrote in an email.

"We knew we could play with any team any night, we had overtime losses, buzzer beater losses, up a few points in the 4th or in the last minute and just ran into the same issue of closing out games on top."

The math tells us that just over 20 points was the difference between four additional wins and finishing 7-4.

"We were tied with the ball in our possession under a minute to play against North Central and Mt. Spokane in those league games and they just played each other for the District 8 title so it just shows you how close we really were," Peevey illustrated.

While frustrating, it will be a learning experience returning players can use next season.

The close of the season means two notable seniors will be moving on, none more impactful than Evan Stinson.

"Evan finished out his senior season leading the way for us and giving us a chance to make the playoffs," Peevey said.

"He left it all on the court, battled an ankle injury and never wavered in his desire to help his team in any way he could. He will be missed but I'm excited to watch him continue to grow as a person and player at WSU."

Only one other senior departs, that being Connor Magalsky. "He anchored us inside with big rebounds and defensive length that we will miss as well," Peevey added.

Cheney returns what Peevey called, "A handful of guys who made big leaps this year and gained valuable experience going into next season."