Cardinals have region title, nationals in sight
PRICE, Utah — Two teams, one goal. Get to the national tournament in two weeks.
That road begins this week on the campus of College of Eastern Utah as the Region 18 tournament takes place in both men’s and women’s basketball action.
• MEN: North Idaho (26-4) enters the tournament as the top seed and will face the winner of the Southern Idaho/Snow quarterfinal on Friday at 6:30 p.m. in one semifinal. Second-seeded Eastern Utah (21-9) will face either Salt Lake or Colorado Northwestern in the other semifinal on Friday.
Renado Parker leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.7 points per game, followed by Michael Hale with 11.9 points per game. Guy-Marc Michel is averaging seven rebounds a game for the Cardinals, followed by Parker and B.J. Shearry with five apiece.
“We did what we had to do,” North Idaho coach Jared Phay said. “We’ve had a chance to rest up and get ready for next week. We’ve gotten a chance to look back and focus on us.”
North Idaho also enters the tournament fairly healthy as a team, with players getting a chance to rest during the final game of the regular season last Saturday.
“We don’t have anything real major right now,” Phay said. “Everyone is banged up at this time of the year.”
The men’s title game will be Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The Region 18 winner will host the winner of the Arizona Region in a playoff game for a trip to nationals on Tuesday.
• WOMEN: The Cardinals (23-6) open play today against Colorado Northwestern (3-25) at 11 a.m.
“I think we’ve got as good a shot as anyone in the league,” North Idaho coach Chris Carlson said. “I’ve always looked at the tournament as the third season. It’s a whole new slate.”
Freshman post Tugce Canitez is averaging 15 points per game, followed by former Coeur d’Alene Viking Kama Griffitts with 14.8 points per game. Canitez is also averaging nine rebounds a game, with Katie Sanders grabbing five rebounds a game.
North Idaho went 1-2 in the team’s first trip to the national tournament since 1997.
Salt Lake and Southern Idaho received byes into the semifinals, with Snow and Eastern Utah competing in today’s other quarterfinal at 4:30 p.m.
The women’s championship game will be Saturday at 4 p.m. in Price.
The winner of the women’s title game advances directly to the national tournament March 16-20 in Salina, Kan.
YoMan Sports will provide a live webcast of the Region 18 men’s and women’s basketball tournaments from the Bunnell Dmitrich Athletic Center at http://www.yomansports.com/view_broadcast.php?bid=197.