It’s been a dream start to the 2025-26 season for first year head coach Earl Cheatham and his Renton Redhawks girls basketball team.

Renton got off to a 9-0 start this season, their best since 2020-21, but had their biggest test of the year in the form of Cedarcrest High School (6-5) on Jan. 7.

“They played hard from the beginning (of the season) and I wasn’t planning on being 9-0. This is my first year as a head coach doing this, so I didn’t exactly know what to expect,” Cheatham said.

The Redhawks got off to a good start that was hampered by a blood delay before eventually falling 48-42 to the Red Wolves.

So far this season, the Redhawks have generated momentum from the start, priding themselves on starting quick and putting immense pressure on their opponents in the first quarter. What was particularly interesting about this game was they did just that.

“I’d give us a ‘C’ because we didn’t start aggressively like we always do. I think we lost the game in the first quarter because of our lack of aggressiveness. We’ve won so many games easy, that we have never been close. I think the youth kicked in and they didn’t know what to do when the games are close,” Cheatham said.

Renton took a 7-0 lead against Cedarcrest, but then Cedarcrest’s Willow Ash caught a Precious Miles inadvertent elbow to the nose, which forced her to leave the game. Due to the blood on the floor, the game was delayed as Ash was tended to and the blood was cleaned up.

Cheatham noted this as a turning point in the game, and there is evidence to back that up. Following the delay, Cedarcrest went on a 11-0 run to take the lead at the end of the first quarter.

“We started off 7-0 but came out flat. I think the blood thing had something to do with us finishing the way we did. Every time we have some kind of layover it comes back to get us at some point in the game,” Cheatham said.

In the second, Renton’s defense stood tall and helped the offense develop some momentum. Renton has a young team — Khloe Mallary (Sophomore), Mia Mickelson (Freshman), Gigi Victo Hill (Freshman) are all starters for Cheatham this year.

“Them getting along is a big part of how they are winning games. They hang out together, talk in school and this is one of the better teams I am lucky to coach,” Cheatham said.

With only two seniors on the entire roster and one in the rotation (Ny’Mari Garner), “the future is real bright,” he said.

At halftime, Cedarcrest took a 18-17 lead into the locker rooms, and for Cheatham, the Redhawks didn’t play their best, but were right in the thick of things in terms of winning the game.

The third quarter was Renton’s best pace of play of the night. Mallary and Garner both had five points, and off the bench, Mackenzie Manglona had three. Renton led by as much as six points, which is the lead they took into the fourth quarter, 34-28.

Gigi Victo Hill dribbles the basketball for Renton against Cedarcrest. Ben Ray / The Reporter

It looked like Renton was going to continue to roll as Mallary found herself wide open for a lay-in to go up 36-28 with over 7:00 to go in the game. Following two made free throws from Precious Miles, Renton kept Cedarcrest at arm’s length away at 38-35 with 6:45 to go.

The problem came about at the 4:00 mark for Renton as Wiley had a putback lay-up to give Renton a 40-35 lead. However, Renton wouldn’t score another point until there were 35 seconds left in the game and Cedarcrest had gone on a 13-0 run.

“Fatigue kicked in. I gotta give that team some credit, they shot the ball and played well. I give credit where credit is due. I didn’t know how they would respond. They overwhelmed that aggressiveness we came out with. I am just anxious to play them again. We’ll see how that goes,” Cheatham said.

Not playing basketball at game speed will undoubtedly take a toll, especially since Renton hadn’t played a game in nearly three weeks. Dec. 22 was the last time Renton took the floor, when the Redhawks beat Cleveland on the road 67-31.

“We will get better, we will be better. I can guarantee you that,” Cheatham said.

Mackenzie Manglona goes up for a shot for Renton against Cedarcrest. Ben Ray / The Reporter

Going undefeated with a young group can create a lot of pressure to end the year without a mark in that loss column. Now Renton doesn’t have that burden.

“I don’t want that kind of pressure to go undefeated all season. At some point you have to lose a game, which is fine, I don’t mind that,” Cheatham said. “We could have played a lot better tonight.”