Cardinal teams beat Eastern Utah; regionals next
MEN'S BASKETBALL
COEUR d'ALENE - Michael Hale scored 24 points and North Idaho College knocked off 14th-ranked College of Eastern Utah 62-53 in the regular season and Scenic West Athletic Conference finale for both teams Saturday afternoon at Rolly Williams Court.
"I thought our effort was really good," NIC coach Jared Phay said. "Both teams struggled a little bit offensively, but I thought that was mainly due to good defense by both teams."
NIC held Eastern Utah to 29.5 percent shooting (18 of 61). The Cardinals shot 35.6 percent (21 of 59).
Bryant Crowder had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Eastern Utah (23-7, 10-5).
NIC (22-8, 7-8 SWAC) is the No. 5 seed and opens against No. 4 Snow on Thursday in the first round of the Region 18 tournament in Twin Falls.
EASTERN UTAH
Brandon Williams 0-3 0-0 0, Trevor Bamgartner 3-9 0-0 9, Aaron Hawk-Harris 0-3 0-0 0, Bryant Crowder 4-10 6-10 14, Jonathan Mills 4-12 1-2 9, Cameron Evans 1-5 0-0 3, Jimmy Bosserman 0-1 0-0 0, Jonah Blanchfield 0-0 0-0 0, Brady Hurst 2-7 2-3 6, Maxim Zakharov 4-11 2-2 12. Totals 18-61 11-17 53.
NORTH IDAHO
DeAndre Taylor 3-5 2-2 9, Ameer Shamsud-din 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Owsley 1-1 0-0 2, Michael Hale 7-17 9-9 24, Idris Lasisi 2-9 2-2 8, Nick Fromm 2-6 0-0 4, Tyrone White 3-10 0-0 7, Abebe Dimissie 2-8 1-2 6, Peter Joksimovic 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 21-59 14-15 62.
Halftime - NIC 26-18. 3-point goals - CEU 6-25 (Williams 0-1, Bamgartner 3-8, Hawk-Harris 0-2, Evans 1-5, Bosserman 0-1, Zakharov 2-8), NIC 6-25 (Taylor 1-3, Hale 1-4, Lasisi 2-7, White 1-6, Dimissie 1-3, Joksimovic 0-2). Rebounds - CEU 45 (Crowder 12), NIC 40 (White, Dimissie 7). Fouled out - Owsley, Fromm. Total fouls - CEU 15, NIC 17. Technical foul - Hurst.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
North Idaho 82
Eastern Utah 57
COEUR d'ALENE - The 15th-ranked Cardinals closed out the regular season by rolling over the Eagles on Rolly Williams Court.
NIC (26-3, 12-3 SWAC) now prepares for the Region 18 tournament, where the Cardinals will face the winner of Thursday's Southern Idaho-Colorado Northwestern game in the semifinals on Friday.
No other information was available.
SOFTBALL
NIC sweeps Wildcats again
FERNLEY, Nev. - Shelby Gonzales belted a three-run home run in the top of the first inning in Game 1, then went deep twice in Game 2 to finish the day with nine RBIs as the North Idaho College Cardinals beat Western Nevada 14-0 and 15-2 in Scenic West Athletic Conference play.
Blake Meredith struck out six for the victory in Game 2 for the Cardinals (18-10, 13-6 SWAC).
Former Lakeland High standout Jamie Klopatek struck out five NIC batters in her four innings of work for the Wildcats.
Ashley Moon ended the day with four doubles and seven RBIs for North Idaho, which is scheduled to host College of Southern Idaho in doubleheaders Friday and Saturday at Memorial Field.
FIRST GAME
North Idaho 421 34 - 14 12 0
W. Nevada 000 00 - 0 1 4
Alyssa Erickson, Joycelynn Probert (5) and Shelby Gonzales. Cassie Vondrak and Megan Hein. W - Erickson. L - Vondrak.
HITS: NIC - DeAnda, Meredith 2, Gonzales 3, LaVaute, Tinoco, Moon 2, Wise 2. WN - Vondrak. 2B - LaVaute, Moon 2, Wise 2. HR - Gonzales.
SECOND GAME
North Idaho 420 72 - 15 15 2
W. Nevada 010 10 - 2 8 0
Jenifer Rosie, Blake Meredith (1) and Shelby Gonzales. Jamie Klopatek, Ashley Hall (5) and Megan Hein.
HITS: NIC - DeAnda, Meredith, Gonzales 2, LaVaute 2, Tinoco 3, Moon 2, Bishop 3, Edwards. WN - Pfeiffer, DiSera 2, Hein, Hall, Cudahy, Tibbitts 2. 2B - Moon, Bishop, Tibbits. HR - DeAnda, Gonzales 2, Tinoco, Edwards.