Cardinal men, women advance to title game
PRICE, Utah - North Idaho sophomore Idell Bell had 23 points in 15 minutes on Friday night to put the Cardinals into today's Region 18 tournament championship game with a 91-78 win over Southern Idaho at the Bunnell Dmitrich Athletic Center.
"Idell brought a lot of energy for us tonight," North Idaho coach Jared Phay said. "Both him and Logan (Jones) played with a lot of energy tonight."
North Idaho (27-4) only led 44-43 at halftime, but held the Golden Eagles to 12 of 37 shooting from the field in the second half as they pulled away.
"I think we started with some tournament jitters," Phay said of the team's start. "Southern (Idaho) shot the ball well tonight. We wanted to wear them down and push the ball late in the game - and we did that tonight."
North Idaho faces Eastern Utah (22-9) in the championship game at 6:30 p.m. PST. Eastern Utah defeated Salt Lake to advance in the tournament.
"It will be a great environment," Phay said of the finals matchup with the host school. "Everyone in town is excited. It will be a battle - no question."
BJ Shearry had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Cardinals.
Kenny Buckner had 18 points and nine rebounds for Southern Idaho, which concludes the season 20-12.
SOUTHERN IDAHO
DJ Stennis 0-1 0-0 0, Pierre Jackson 3-8 0-0 7, Charles Odum 6-11 1-4 17, Byago Diouf 2-6 0-0 4, Carrick Felix 1-6 1-2 3, Josten Thomas 5-17 6-10 17, Dennis Mikelonis 4-8 1-1 12, Kenny Buckner 8-12 2-2 18. Totals 29-70 11-19 78.
NORTH IDAHO
DeAndre Taylor 2-2 0-0 5, Idell Bell 5-11 11-14 23, Steven Hodney 1-1 0-0 2, Renado Parker 5-11 1-2 11, Michael Hale 2-6 3-4 7, Nick Fromm 0-0 0-0 0, Logan Jones 4-8 2-2 11, BJ Shearry 5-11 6-11 16, Taylor Stevens 1-4 2-2 5, Brandon Haas 0-0 0-0 0, Guy-Marc Michel 4-5 3-5 11. Totals 29-59 28-40 91.
Halftime - NIC 44-43. 3-point goals - CSI 9-26 (Stennis 0-1, Jackson 1-4, Odum 4-7, Diouf 0-2, Felix 0-3, Thomas 1-4, Mikelonis 3-5), NIC 5-13 (Taylor 1-1, Bell 2-6, Hale 0-1, Jones 1-1, Stevens 1-4). Rebounds - CSI 35 (Buckner 9), NIC 42 (Shearry 10). Assists - CSI 13 (Jackson 6), NIC 13 (Hale 5). Team fouls - CSI 26, NIC 16. Fouled out - Thomas. Technical fouls - Felix
PRICE, Utah. - Cardinal freshman Tugce Canitez had 25 points and 14 rebounds to lift North Idaho (25-6) into today's Region 18 tournament title game following a 94-87 double-overtime win over Southern Idaho at the Bunnell Dmitrich Athletic Center.
"Our freshman really grew up today," North Idaho coach Chris Carlson said. "Camille (Reynolds) and Amy (Warbrick) hit some big 3's in the second overtime. Both of them and Kama (Griffitts) were amazing on defense tonight. Those three didn't let them get loose on offense. It was a great team effort."
Carlson also praised the play of Canitez, with 12 of her team-high 14 rebounds coming on the defensive end.
"Tugce was a monster on the boards," Carlson said. "(Shauneice) Samms and (Maddy) Plunkett are both former MVPs in the league - to get that many was huge."
Reynolds added 15 points for the Cardinals, who will face Salt Lake (25-5) in the title game today at 4 p.m. PST in Price. The Bruins defeated Snow 86-77 in the other semifinal on Friday.
"We're going to have to take them out of their offense," Carlson said of the matchup with Salt Lake. "Snow did a few things to take them out of their game tonight (Friday). We've got our advantages against them - but we'd also played two games in this tournament before they had played a minute."
Samms had 20 points to lead Southern Idaho, which concludes the season 22-9.
NORTH IDAHO
Chantel Divilbiss 3-3 0-0 8, Camille Reynolds 4-9 5-7 15, Amy Warbrick 4-9 2-4 11, KiKi Edwards-Teasley 1-3 0-0 2, Kama Griffitts 3-8 2-2 11, Katie Sanders 5-10 0-0 11, Sadie Lazzarini 2-6 0-0 4, Deanna Dotts 1-4 3-6 5, Tugce Canitez 8-16 5-8 24. Totals 33-69 17-27 94.
SOUTHERN IDAHO
Kylie Hardison 0-0 0-0 0, Emiliya Yancheva 0-0 0-0 0, Felicity Jones 4-14 6-8 14, Kalika Tullock 0-1 0-0 0, Shauniece Samms 7-14 6-7 20, Daidra Brown 7-17 5-6 19, Laurel Kearsley 6-11 2-4 14, Nicole Harper 0-3 2-2 2, Devan Matkin 0-8 0-0 0, Tina Fakahafua 0-1 0-0 0, Maddy Plunkett 8-13 2-2 18. Totals 32-82 23-29 87.
Halftime - CSI 36-33. 3-point goals - NIC 11-24 (Divilbiss 2-2, Reynolds 2-5, Warbrick 1-3, Griffitts 3-4, Sanders 1-2, Lazzarini 2-6, Canitez 2-6), CSI 1-12 (Jones 0-3, Brown 1-1, Matkin 0-5, Fakahafua 0-1, Plunkett 0-2). Rebounds - NIC 46 (Canitez 14), CSI 46 (Kearsley, Samms 8). Assists - NIC 14 (Warbrick, Griffitts 4), CSI 13 (Brown 6). Team fouls - NIC 22, CSI 23. Fouled out - Brown.
REGION 18 TOURNAMENTS
At Price, Utah
Times PST
Thursday's Games
Salt Lake 104, Colorado Northwestern 69
Southern Idaho 76, Snow 72
Friday's Games
Eastern Utah 85, Salt Lake 75
North Idaho 91, Southern Idaho 78
Saturday's Game
6:30 p.m. - North Idaho (27-4) v. Eastern Utah (22-9)
Thursday's Games
North Idaho 88, Colorado Northwestern 57.
Snow 92, Eastern Utah 69
Friday's Games
North Idaho 94, Southern Idaho 87, 2 OT
Salt Lake 86, Snow 77
Saturday's Game
4 p.m. - North Idaho (25-6) vs. Salt Lake (25-5).