Hoots, Blackhawks Dismiss Lakeside In Opener, 51-44

The defending champions dispatched, the Cheney Blackhawks set their attention toward another Metro League team.

Led by the 17 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocked shots of senior Jenny Hoots, third-ranked Cheney (24-0) held off Lakeside of Seattle 51-44 Wednesday to end the first day of the girls State AA basketball tournament.

Lakeside (15-13) has owned this event in the Tacoma Dome, having won four of the previous six state titles.

But the Blackhawks are the talk of the tourney this year, entering with the lone unbeaten mark for girls or boys.

Next for Cheney is a tougher challenge - a quarterfinal at 8 p.m. today against seventh-ranked Chief Sealth of Seattle (22-4), which topped Mount Vernon 59-52. Chief Sealth, another Metro League team, defeated Lakeside 62-38 this year.

“They have good shooters and play a relaxed, loosey-goosey style,” said Cheney coach Marty Jessett. “But we feel like we’re in better shape.”

Cheney looked to be worn out during the third quarter against Lakeside. The Blackhawks entered halftime with a 27-15 lead, but were outscored 19-12 in the third quarter.

“We’re going to have to come out with a little more intensity,” Jessett said. “We did that in the first 8 minutes, then they started to get going outside.”

Cheney held Lakeside’s leading scorers, guards Meghan Gould and Faye Hutchison, scoreless in the first half. But Gould finished with 12 as Lakeside cut the Blackhawks’ lead to 44-40 with 2:54 left.

Jessett took a timeout to remind his team that the 6-foot-3 Hoots was at least 5 inches taller than any of the Lions. Whether going to Hoots directly, or using her as a decoy, Cheney went on a 7-0 run to clinch the win.

Blackhawks Erin Soliday and Anna Getz did the early damage. Soliday had 12 points, four steals and three assists in the first half. Many of the passes into Soliday came from Getz, who had six assists in the first half.

Lakeside didn’t have its outside shooting working early, and the Lions didn’t want to challenge Hoots too often. Hoots had four of Cheney’s seven blocks in the first half. Cheney finished with 17 blocks to Lakeside’s zero.

But Lakeside did as well as any team has against Cheney’s pressure defense. Cheney’s 10 steals were relatively low for its norm.

“I thought Lisa (Anderson) did a good job on the press,” Jessett said.

Soliday scored 15, Getz had seven assists and Melissa Krogh had 10 rebounds. Theresa Wagner led the Lions with 13 points and nine rebounds.

Cheney 51, Lakeside 44

Lakeside 7 8 19 10 - 44 Cheney 17 10 12 12 - 51

LAKESIDE Gould 5 1-2 12, Hutchison 2 0-0 5, Cowles 1 0-0 2, Riley 1 0-0 2, Wagner 4 5-6 13, Cunningham 1 0-0 2, Johnson 4 0-0 8, Crockett 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 6-8 44. CHENEY Soliday 7 1-2 15, Getz 3 0-2 7, Day 0 0-0 0, Anderson 3 0-2 6, Krogh 1 4-5 6, Reagan 0 0-0 0, Hoots 8 1-3 17. Totals: 22 6-14 51.

3-pointers - Gould, Hutchison, Getz. Total fouls - Lakeside 18, Cheney 14. Fouled out - none.