CHERRYVALE — Mounting their defense of a Tri-Valley League title a year ago, the Cherryvale Chargers girls began league action with a pair of wins on Thursday and Friday.
Cherryvale took down Neodesha at home, 52-46, on Thursday and Bluestem, 56-25, on the road on Friday.
Thursday marked the third time Cherryvale and Neodesha, two of the three teams that split a Tri-Valley title a year ago, met on the court this campaign. Cherryvale won the rubber match.
“This was huge,” Cherryvale head coach Kelsey Overacker said. “Anytime we play Neodesha, it doesn’t matter what either team has done all year. It’s going to be a battle with both teams. We put them down early and Neodesha came back. But our kids dug deep and found a way to win.”
Cherryvale’s press swallowed Neodesha early, forcing the Bluestreaks to burn two timeouts in the game’s first four minutes.
“That’s what we want to thrive on right now,” Overacker said. “Our defense will create offense for us. That’s why we were inconsistent early in the season. We hadn’t brought the defense like we wanted to and we didn’t shoot like we wanted to. In the first half tonight, we hit shots and defended like we wanted to. Those kids busted their butts.”
Harmony John led the Chargers with 19 points, 15 coming on five 3-points and 16 coming in the first half.
“She was the player we know she can be,” Overacker said. “We have a lot of threats. We saw that tonight. Harmony was hot and we kept finding the hot hand. When she wasn’t hot in the second half, other kids stepped up in big moments.”
Friday’s game against Bluestem was never in doubt. Macie Raida paced the Chargers with 20 points while John added 15.
“It was a good end to the week for us,” Overacker said. “After a tough battle, we were able to stay in gear and bring home another league win. We really are focusing on our defensive pressure and trying to create our offense from that. Our kids are buying in and having fun doing it.”
Cherryvale improved to 10-6 with the win.
“We are still a ways away from where we want to be, but I like the direction we’re headed,” Overacker said.
Up next
Cherryvale gets a week off before hosting Fredonia on Friday.
“Our kids are hungry and very coachable,” Overacker said. “That’s helped us this year. We’re young and kids are learning. So we need some downtime for our legs and to break down some film. That’s really helping our press.”
