Middlebrooks, Lewis lead NIC men to title game

| December 4, 2011 8:00 PM

COEUR d'ALENE - Michael Middlebrooks hit all six of his shots from the floor and he and Keon Lewis each finished with 15 points and the North Idaho College Cardinals edged Yakima Valley 80-73 in a semifinal game of the Bigfoot-Cardinal Classic on Saturday night at Rolly Williams Court.

Jordan McCloud added 12 points and led the Cardinals with nine rebounds. Kaj Sherman was also perfect from the field as well as the free throw line, hitting four of each and finishing with 12 points.

Amir Royal finished with 20 points for Yakima Valley.

North Idaho (9-0) faces Community Colleges of Spokane in the tournament championship today at 3 p.m. at Spokane Community College.

YAKIMA VALLEY

Johnnie Diggs 1-5 2-4 4, Amir Royal 8-16 3-5 20, Erik Martinez 1-2 2-4 4, Jason Bagby 0-0 0-0 0, Dallin Molina 1-4 0-0 2, Tomas Ogbaslassie 1-5 8-10 10, Dabrail Henton 6-11 0-0 15,Cameron Jensen 5-10 0-0 14, Julian Romero 1-1 0-1 0, Mitchell Zapien 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 25-56 15-14 73.

NORTH IDAHO

Jordan McCloud 4-11 4-6 12, Antoine Hosley 0-8 0-0 0, Connor White 1-4 0-0 3, Kwame Bates 3-7, 0-0 7, Casey Ward 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Neve 0-0 0-0 0, Keon Lewis 3-13 8-9 15, Michael Middlebrooks 6-6 3-6 15, Edrico McGregor 3-5 0-0 6, Joel Underdahl 0-0 0-0 0, Tyrell Lewis 2-2 0-1 4, Cole Luckett 0-0 0-0 0, Petar Joksimovic 1-6 4-5 6, Kaj Sherman 4-4 4-4 12. Totals 27-66 23-31 80.

Halftime - North Idaho 31-30. 3-point goals - YAK 8-20 (Diggs 0-1, Royal 1-4, Molina 0-1, Ogbaslassie 0-1, Henton 3-6, Jensen 4-6, Zapien 0-1). NIC 3-15 (McCloud 0-1, Hosley 0-2, White 1-3, Bates 1-3, K. Lewis 1-3, Joksimovic 0-3). Rebounds - YAK 35 (Henton 6). NIC 47 (McCloud 9). Assists - YAK 10 (Ogbaslassie 4). NIC 11 (McCloud, K. Lewis 3). Team fouls - YAK 24, NIC 19. Fouled out - Molina, Ogbaslassie.

Casper 83

North Idaho 73

COEUR d'ALENE - Rosalie Cutri, a 5-foot-7 sophomore guard from Waterloo Corner, South Australia, totaled 24 points, 12 rebounds and five steals as the Thunderbirds of Casper, Wyo., ranked fifth in the NJCAA, beat the 15th-ranked Cardinals at Rolly Williams Court.

Talor Diehl added 15 points and eight assists for Casper (9-1), which lost at NIC 69-63 on Thursday. On Saturday, the Thunderbirds led by as many as 21 points at 51-30 early in the second half.

NIC (6-2) had five players in double figures, led by Korina Baker, who had 16 points. Julia Salmio had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Reserve forward Hannah Love scored 14 points, Angela Woods 12, and Kate Buskey had 10 points and six assists.

NIC travels to Walla Walla Community College on Friday.

CASPER

Bailey Holland 2-7 1-1 6, Shelby Stewart 3-6 0-0 7, Yalandra Tyson 2-3 3-3 7, Rosalie Cutri 9-14 6-8 24, Madara Gulbe 1-3 4-4 6, Shelby Garska 2-4 0-0 4, Kaynesha Zinn 1-2 0-0 2, Talor Diehl 6-13 1-2 15, KeArrow Jenkins 6-10 0-0 12. Totals 32-62 15-18 83.

NORTH IDAHO

Angela Woods 4-10 2-3 12, Kate Buskey 3-6 2-2 10, Tori Davenport 0-1 2-2 2, Korina Baker 4-12 5-6 16, Dani Kastrava 0-0 0-0 0, Aimee Durbridge 0-1 0-0 0, Julia Salmio 7-13 0-0 15, Mollie Kramer 0-1 0-0 0, Hannah Love 6-10 1-1 14, Danika Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, Ashleigh Kelman-Poto 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 26-61 12-14 73.

Halftime - Casper 46-30. 3-point goals - Cas 4-18 (Holland 1-4, Stewart 1-4, Gulbe 0-1, Garska 0-2, Diehl 2-7), NIC 9-22 (Woods 2-6, Buskey 2-4, Baker 3-6, Salmio 1-3, Love 1-3). Rebounds - Cas 35 (Cutri 12), NIC 33 (Salmio 10). Assists - Cas 17 (Diehl 8), NIC 18 (Buskey 6). Fouled out - none. Total fouls - Cas 14, NIC 17.