Cardinal women advance to title game

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

TWIN FALLS - Sophomore forward Tugce Canitez scored 18 points and grabbed 17 rebounds as the second-seeded North Idaho Cardinal women defeated the third-seeded Southern Idaho Golden Eagles 84-72 on Friday to advance to the Region 18 basketball tournament championship game.

"It was a great battle," NIC coach Chris Carlson said. "CSI really, really came out to win that game today. Our kids played a terrific game and rose up when they had to."

NIC (27-3) will face top-seeded Salt Lake, which defeated Snow College 65-62 in the other semifinal on Friday night.

Kama Griffitts scored 20 points and had seven rebounds for NIC, which is seeking a third-consecutive trip to the NJCAA tournament in Salina, Kan. starting on March 16.

Kiki Edwards-Teasley had 19 and freshman Korina Baker had 15 points for NIC, which also outrebounded CSI 47-36 in the game.

"Tugce, Kiki, Kama and Korina all had terrific games," Carlson said.

CSI took a 40-38 halftime lead, but were held to 10 of 27 shooting from the floor in the second half, while NIC shot 16 of 33 for 46 points in the half.

"We went to a smaller lineup in the second half," Carlson said. "It helped with us getting back defensively and gave us a lot of speed getting to the basket. We were able to cut them off and got a lot of steals off that."

Salt Lake has won two of three games, with the Bruins winning 60-58 in the most recent matchup on Feb. 11 in Salt Lake.

"They got us the last time we played them," Carlson said. "We're real hungry for this team right here. It's going to be another Scenic West Conference battle for sure - but I like the way we're battling right now."

Tonight's championship game will be web cast on niwebsports.com starting at 4 p.m. PST.

NORTH IDAHO

Camille Reynolds 1-4 0-0 2, Tugce Canitez 7-17 4-6 18, Korina Baker 5-8 1-2 15, Kiki Edwards-Teasley 8-13 3-4 19, Kama Griffitts 5-17 5-6 20, Chantel Divilbiss 2-9 1-1 6, Timena Shebala 0-0 0-0 0, Amy Warbrick 1-4 0-0 2, Julia Salmio 0-0 0-0 0, Amanda Carlton 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 30-74 1-19 84.

SOUTHERN IDAHO

Felicity Jones 3-8 1-5 8, Kylie Hardison 0-3 0-0 0, Laurel Kearsley 7-10 2-2 19, Mechela Barnes 2-8 3-3 7, Fanny Cavallo 3-4 2-3 8, Tayllor Gipson 5-10 2-2 12, Kylee Schierman 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Altenburg 0-2 0-0 0, Holly Checketts 1-1 0-0 2, Tina Fakahafua 4-6 0-0 10, Kyler Parai 1-7 4-4 6, Chakala Carthen 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-60 14-19 72.

Halftime - CSI 40-38. 3-point goals - NIC 10-28 (Canitez 0-2, Baker 4-4, Griffitts 5-13, Divilbiss 1-6, Warbrick 0-2, Carlton 0-1). CSI 6-20 (Jones 1-1, Hardison 0-2, Kearsley 3-5, Barnes 0-3, Gipson 0-2, Altenburg 0-2, Fakahafua 2-3, Parai 0-2). Rebounds - NIC 47 (Canitez 17). CSI 36 (Jones, Cavallo 7). Assists - NIC 20 (Griffitts 6). CSI 16 (Parai 5). Team fouls - NIC 19, CSI 19. Fouled out - none.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

Southern Idaho 79, North Idaho 67: At Twin Falls, guard Pierre Jackson scored 26 points as top-seeded Southern Idaho Golden Eagles rallied from a seven-point deficit in the first half to defeat the fifth-seeded North Idaho Cardinals in the semifinals of the Region 18 men's basketball tournament on the campus of CSI.

NIC opened a 24-17 lead on a pair of free throws by Idris Lasisi, but had CSI close the first half on a 21-9 run to take a 38-33 halftime lead.

"I liked the pace of our game in the first half," NIC coach Jared Phay said. "CSI has those quick guards and can make a run. They came out in the second half and started locking us down on defense."

Sophomore Michael Hale scored 26 points on 5 of 11 from beyond the 3-point line in 37 minutes for NIC.

"Michael had 20 of them in the first half and really got us going tonight," Phay said. "I'm definitely going to miss coaching him."

CSI (27-4) will face third-seeded Salt Lake (25-7), who upset Eastern Utah 86-72 in the other semifinal.

NIC, which started the season as the top-ranked team in the NJCAA, concludes the season 23-9.

"It was kind of a rollercoaster season," Phay said. "We definitely had some highs as the top-ranked team for a while. We won 23 games, and although it doesn't feel like it right now, we had a pretty good season."

NORTH IDAHO

Michael Hale 8-17 5-7 26, Idris Lasisi 2-4 3-4 7, Nick Fromm 0-2 2-4 2, Tyrone White 2-10 0-0 4, Abebe Dimissie 3-9 3-4 11, DeAndre Taylor 1-3 1-2 3, Jake Owsley 2-5 0-0 4, Nate Clinton 0-1 0-0 0, Petar Joksimovic 2-4 0-2 5, Ameer Shamsud-din 2-4 0-0 5. Totals 22-59 14-23 67.

SOUTHERN IDAHO

Jerrold Brooks 4-9 4-4 13, Pierre Jackson 5-11 14-15 26, Fabyon Harris 5-10 1-4 11, Issiah Grayson 0-1 0-0 0, Terrance Lafayette 0-2 0-0 0, Gerson Santo 1-5 5-8 7, Darius Smith 2-3 4-7 8, Mitch Bruneel 5-13 4-5 14, Kenny Buckner 0-1 0-2 0, Chris Patton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-55 32-45 79.

Halftime - CSI 38-33. 3-point goals - NIC 9-25 (Hale 5-11, Lasisi 0-1, White 0-2, Dimissie 2-4, Taylor 0-1, Joksimovic 1-3, Shamsud-din 1-3). CSI 3-14 (Brooks 1-4, Jackson 2-6 Bruneel 0-1, Harris 0-3). Rebounds - NIC 37 (White 11). CSI 45 (Bruneel 11). Assists - NIC 7 (Shamsud-din, White 2). CSI 8 (Smith 4). Team fouls - NIC 28, CSI 19. Fouled out - Fromm. Technical fouls - NIC team.

SOFTBALL

Southern Idaho 11-9, North North Idaho 2-4: At Moses Lake, Wash., Marina Groenewegen went 5 for 10 with six RBIs on Friday as the visiting Golden Eagles swept a Scenic West Athletic Conference doubleheader.

The games were moved to Moses Lake after Memorial Field was unplayable following last week's snow.

Blake Meredith and Kelsey LaVaute had RBIs in the first game and Desirae Tinico had three RBIs in the second game for NIC (18-12, 13-8 SWAC).

The teams conclude their weekend series today at noon.

FIRST GAME

Southern Idaho 302 301 2 - 11 17 1

North Idaho 000 101 0 - 2 6 3

Jyl Eckstein and Kelsie Webster; Alyssa Erickson, Jenifer Rosie and Shelby Gonzales. W - Eckstein. L - Erickson.

HITS: CSI - Williams 5, Albertson 2, Groenewegen 3, Bryant 2, Miller, Brailsford, K. Webster, L. Webster 2. NIC - DeAnda 2, Meredith, LaVaute 2, Tinico. 2B - Williams, Groenewegen, Webster. HR - Groenewegen.

SECOND GAME

Southern Idaho 104 004 0 - 9 12 2

North Idaho 010 300 0 - 4 6 2

Jessi Duncan and Kelsie Webster; Blake Meredith, Jenifer Rosie and Shelby Gonzales. W - Duncan. L - Meredith.

HITS: CSI - Williams 2, Albertson 2, Griffin 3, Groenewegen 2, K. Webster, Bryant 2. NIC - Erickson, Meredith, LaVaute, Tinoco, Moon.