NIC women capture NJCAA title
SALINA, Kan. - When the North Idaho Cardinals left for Kansas last Saturday, they had an idea of how talented they were, they just were waiting for the rest of the nation to catch up.
A week later, NIC (32-3) went from the fifth-seed in the NJCAA tournament to their first women's basketball title in school history, defeating third-seeded Trinity Valley (Tex.) 90-81 in the championship game of the NJCAA tournament at the Bicentennial Center.
"I can't believe it," NIC coach Chris Carlson said following the game. "I kept saying, 'Did we really do it' - it's unbelievable."
Sophomore Kama Griffitts scored 22 points on 7 of 15 from the floor, also being named tournament MVP.
"Sometimes I don't like getting individual awards," Griffitts said. "I really felt like the entire team deserved it. Everyone did so much to help me - I just don't feel like I deserve it."
Griffitts, who has signed to play at the University of Arizona in the fall, scored 28 points in Friday's 90-75 semifinal victory over top-ranked Pensacola.
"It's awesome right now," Griffitts said. "There's really no words to describe it. It's a great feeling. We worked together last year and this year, its the icing on the cake. I'm really happy right now."
Carlson was also named national coach of the year following the game.
"I didn't even know they had that award," Carlson said. "As soon as I got that, I was thinking of my wife Carey, Cal (DeHaas), Randy (Boswell) and our host families that had a part in this too, everything we’ve gotten from them this year — this was a total team effort. There were so many pieces that made this possible.”
Kiki Edwards-Teasley scored 17 points for NIC.
Sophomores Tugce Canitez and Camille Reynolds were also named to the all-tournament team.
“A lot of people in Turkey know how hard I play,” Canitez said. “I’m very excited to have won a national title with my teammates.”
“We’ve been working hard all season long,” said Reynolds, a former Lakeland High standout. “The biggest thing with playing in our league is how to gauge how good you are until your get to the national tournament. After watching some of the games on the opening day, I knew we were the best team here. Everyone bought into that. This is unreal and a dream come true.”
Carlson added that Friday’s win over Pensacola took a little bit out of the Cardinals in the early going, but not enough to derail their championship journey.
“We spent a lot of energy in that game on Friday,” Carlson said. “We were missing some legs early on tonight. Tugce didn’t score in the first half, but we had Chantel (Divilbiss) and Amanda Carlton hit some shots and we were able to suck it, went out and won it.”
NIC will graduate nine of 11 players, with Korina Baker and Julia Salmio the only freshmen on the roster.
“I told them a month ago I was already missing the sophomores,” Carlson said. “It’s a great group and I’m going to miss going to the gym and watching them practice. They’re a close group and we need to build that chemistry again, but to win a national title — this is a great group.”
TRINITY VALLEY
Lesha Dunn 0-0 0-0 0, Sabrina McKinney 0-0 3-4 3, Brandi Dais 2-4 0-0 4, Jasmine Scott 3-7 4-6 10, Jenea Barrett 6-15 1-1 16, Kejuana Gardner 8-11 0-1 18, Melissa Jackson 1-1 0-0 2, Alica Robinson 1-1 1-1 3, Brittney Dukes 1-5 0-1 2, ShaKayla Caples 11-22 0-0 23. Totals 33-70 9-14 81.
NORTH IDAHO
Kama Griffitts 7-15 4-5 22, Chantel Divilbiss 2-4 2-2 7, Camille Reynolds 5-9 2-3 12, Timena Shebala 0-0 0-0 0, Tugce Canitez 6-10 3-6 15, Amy Warbrick 1-4 2-2 4, Korina Baker 1-5 2-6 4, Kiki Edwards-Teasley 7-13 3-5 17, Julia Salmio 0-0 0-0 0, Amanda Carlton 3-4 0-0 9, Deanna Dotts 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 32-65 16-26 90.
Halftime — NIC 38-30. 3-point goals — TVCC 6-21 (Barrett 3-7, Gardner 2-4, Dukes 0-5, Caples 1-5). NIC 10-22 (Griffitts 4-9, Divilbiss 1-3, Reynolds 2-3, Baker 0-3, Carlton 3-4). Rebounds — TVCC 44 (Scott 13). NIC 42 (Canitez 12). Assists — TVCC 9 (McKinney, Dukes, Caples 2). NIC 16 (Baker 8). Team fouls — TVCC 21, NIC 16. Fouled out — Scott.
MEN’S TOURNAMENT
Southern Idaho 72, Midland 64: At Hutchinson, Kan., Sophomore guard Pierre Jackson scored 22 points to lead the Golden Eagles to the men’s NJCAA championship over Midland College 72-64 on Saturday night at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
Kenny Bucker scored 12 points for CSI, which finishes the season 33-4.