Cheney outlasts Prosser

TACOMA – After a seven-year state tournament drought, Cheney coach Ryan Fitzgerald wasn’t exactly expecting his team to play its best basketball of the season under the bright lights of the Tacoma Dome.

It’s a good thing, because the Blackhawks didn’t.

Cheney committed 23 turnovers and survived several long scoring droughts, but played well enough at the right times, defeating Prosser 54-46 in the first round of the State 2A boys basketball tournament on Wednesday night.

Cheney (15-6) will play Burlington-Edison, a 63-44 winner over R.A. Long, at 7 p.m. today.

“Ugly games happen quite a bit on the first day of the tournament,” said Fitzgerald, who won his state debut as a head coach. “What we were able to do was win in spite of that and that’s a tribute to this team. We had a great effort across the board.”

After a first quarter with a breakneck pace, Cheney hit the wall in the second, failing to tally a field goal until nearly 4 minutes into the quarter. But the Blackhawks regrouped and went on a 6-1 run over the final 2 minutes, 45 seconds of the half and cut the Mustangs’ lead to 23-22, despite committing 15 turnovers and shooting 0 for 6 from 3-point range in the first half.

In the third quarter, Cheney fell behind by seven midway through but went on a 7-0 run over the final 3:55 to tie the score at 35. Nursing a 42-41 lead with 3:16 left in the game, the Blackhawks finally built some momentum as DeAngelo Jones picked off a pass at halfcourt and scored easily at the other end, giving Cheney a lead it didn’t relinquish.

“(The steal and layup) brought a little momentum to us and brought everyone together, so I think that caused a little bit of energy,” said Jones, who finished with eight points and eight rebounds.

In addition to outscoring the Mustangs 19-11 in the fourth quarter, Cheney was solid from the free-throw line, shooting 14 of 23 (60.9 percent) in the second half.

Brendan Hardie led Cheney with 12 points while Daniel Igbinoba added 10 – six coming in the fourth quarter.

Kellen Crawford scored a game-high 17 points for Prosser (17-4).

P. Townsend 45, WV 41

The Eagles scored just six points in the third quarter and were outscored 18-10 in the fourth quarter as Port Townsend (20-1) held on for the win.

West Valley will play Sehome in a consolation bracket game at 2 p.m. today.

Jordan Lupfer-Graham scored seven of his team-high 15 points in the final 3 minutes to keep things close for West Valley (13-8).

Port Townsend’s Parker McClelland led all scorers with 21 points.

Clarkston 50, E-burg 47

Despite being outscored 31-18 by the Bulldogs in the second half, the Bantams (15-6) escaped with a win.

Clarkston will take on Mark Morris at 5 p.m. today.

Don Perconti led the Bantams with a game-high 21 points, including 3 of 7 from 3-point range.