Middlebrooks paces Cardinal men
MEN'S BASKETBALL
TWIN FALLS - Freshman Michael Middlebrooks scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as the North Idaho Cardinals beat NJCAA Division II Phoenix College 107-78 in the Gordon Paving/Gold's Gym Invitational on Saturday at the College of Southern Idaho.
"Michael played really well for us," NIC coach Jared Phay said. "He really dominated on both ends of the floor for us today."
Kwame Bates scored 15 points for NIC, which shot 35 of 70 from the field and 25 of 31 from the free-throw line.
"We played a very good first half," said Phay, whose Cardinals held a 58-27 lead at halftime. "We kind of let up in the second half, but our shot selection was better and I think they're starting to learn our offense a little more. I was really happy with our effort. They're a real scrappy team. This was a good win for us."
NIC travels to Salish Kootenai of Pablo, Mont., on Thursday.
NORTH IDAHO
Jordan McCloud 4-9 1-2 10, Antoine Hosley 4-9 2-2 12, Conner White 2-3 4-4 10, Kwame Bates 4-11 4-6 15, Casey Ward 1-2 0-0 2, Keon Lewis 4-11 6-7 16, Michael Middlebrooks 7-10 7-8 21, Edrico McGregor 5-10 0-1 10, Joel Underdahl 2-2 0-0 6, Kaj Sherman 2-3 1-1 5. Totals 35-70 25-31 107.
PHOENIX COLLEGE
Christian Bower 4-10 1-2 12, Kenneth Davis 2-10 4-6 9, Darrell Espy 5-13 0-0 12, Travis Wilson 4-7 2-3 10, Julian Sargent 1-3 1-2 3, Terrin Elam 4-11 6-8 15, Frank Brown 0-9 2-2 2, Taylor Christensen 3-8 6-8 12, Charles King 1-3 0-0 3, Patric Massey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-74 22-33 78.
Halftime - NIC 58-27. 3-point goals - NIC 12-25 (McCloud 1-3, Hosley 2-5, White 2-3, Bates 3-6, Ward 0-1, Lewis 2-5, Underdahl 2-2), PC 8-35 (Bower 3-6, Willis 1-6, Espy 2-9, Elam 1-4, Brown 0-8, King 1-2). Rebounds - NIC 53 (Middlebrooks 13), PC 41 (Elam 6). Assists - NIC 18 (Bates 4), PC 18 (Bower 4). Team fouls - NIC 24, PC 24. Fouled out - Sherman, Wilson, Sargent.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
North Idaho 68
Gillette 48
TWIN FALLS - Freshman Ashleigh Kelman-Poto scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as the fourth-ranked Cardinals beat Gillete (Wyo.) in the Gordon Paving/Gold's Gym Invitational on Saturday at CSI.
"Ashleigh was big for us today," NIC coach Chris Carlson said. "After we got that first one under our belt, we came out united. This was big for us today. With Ashleigh, I can see some more games like that for us in the future."
NIC (1-1) forced 32 turnovers.
"Our full-court pressure was strong today," Carlson said. "It was a very aggressive start by our team. We didn't come out that strong yesterday, but we were more steady throughout, and to hold them to 48 points is a good night."
NIC hosts the North Idaho All-Stars in the "Hoops for Hope" game on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
NORTH IDAHO
Angela Woods 1-7 0-2 3, Katie Buskey 2-7 4-4 10, Tori Davenport 0-4 0-2 0, Shanee McBride 3-4 0-2 6, Korina Baker 2-6 2-4 7, Dani Kastrava 1-4 5-5 7, Aimee Durbridge 1-4 0-0 3, Julia Salmio 3-9 2-2 8, Mollie Kramer 1-3 0-0 2, Hannah Love 3-5 0-2 6, Danika Johnson 1-3 2-2 4, Ashleigh Kelman-Poto 6-9 0-2 12. Totals 24-65 15-28 68.
GILLETTE COLLEGE
Kim Caywood 1-4 0-0 2, Liesha Greer 4-8 3-4 11, Diarra Carrington 2-5 0-2 4, Jordan Scott-Benson 0-5 0-1 0, Alex Ward 1-4 0-0 2, Jordyn Crost 4-5 0-0 8, Christina Davis 1-5 0-0 2, Elisha Hensey 3-7 0-1 6, Jessica Davis 1-3 2-2 4, Sara Reile 0-1 0-0 0, Kenosha Wright 1-2 1-2 3, Anatasia Champlin 2-5 0-0 5. Totals 20-54 6-12 48.
Halftime - NIC 41-20. 3-point goals - NIC 5-18 (Buskey 2-3, Baker 1-5, Woods 1-5, McBride 0-1, Kastrava 0-1, Durbridge 1-3), GC 2-8 (Caywood 0-1, Ward 1-2, Hensey 0-1, Reile 0-1, Champlin 1-3). Rebounds - NIC 46 (Kellman-Poto 13), GC 39 (Greer, Scott-Benson 6). Assists - NIC 16 (Baker 5), GC 8 (C. Davis 3). Team fouls - NIC 15, GC 20. Fouled out - none.
WRESTLING
5 unbeatens for NIC to open Best of West
ASHLAND, Ore. - Jarrett Morill (141 pounds), Mikey Rodriguez (133), Kyle Sweedman (174), Justin Gilliespie (197) and Matthew Foxworthy (285) went unbeaten for North Idaho on the first day of the two-day Best of the West Open.
"The guys wrestled really well and as a whole got a lot of matches today," NIC coach Pat Whitcomb said. "Foxworthy got a big win over former NIC wrestler Rudy Bertschi (now at Clackamas) at heavyweight that really got him going."
Former Post Falls High standout Derrick Booth went 1-1 at 141 pounds for NIC.
"We're down to the top eight in each weight class," Whitcomb said. "We'll just gear it up and go from there."
125 - Joaquin Calderon 2-1. 133 - Mikey Rodriguez 2-0. 141 - Jarrett Morrill 3-0, Derrick Booth 1-1. 149 - Bryce McMahon 1-1, Connor Pelzel 1-1. 157 - Ryan Zumwalt 2-1, Ricky LaBelle 1-1. 165 - W.V. Meyer 2-1. 174 - Kyle Sweedman 3-0. 184 - Justin Korthuis 1-2. 197 - Nick Wasierski 2-1, Justin Gillespie 3-0. 285 - Matthew Foxworthy 2-0.