NIC men advance to tourney title game
COEUR d'ALENE - Keon Lewis scored 23 points and the North Idaho College men's basketball team shot a sizzling 67 percent (35 of 52) from the field in routing Yakima Valley Community College 113-75 in the semifinals of the Bigfoot/Cardinal Classic on Saturday night at Rolly Williams Court.
"They pressed and ran for 40 minutes," NIC coach Jared Phay said. "It might have created a few turnovers, but for the most part, we were able to get some easy buckets."
NIC (10-1) will face Green River, which upset Community Colleges of Spokane 84-78 in overtime, in the championship game today at 3 p.m. at NIC.
Former Coeur d'Alene High standout Devon Loy is a freshman for Green River.
Michael Middlebrooks added 18 points, six rebounds and six blocked shots for the Cardinals. James Webb had 20 points, five rebounds and five blocks. NIC shot 50 free throws, making 40.
“Our guards are really trying to attack the hoop,” Phay said. “I really like the fact we only shot six 3-pointers because we were attacking the hoop because it gives us a shot to get to the free throw line.”
All told, NIC had 28 blocked shots.
“I didn’t really think we had that many,” Phay said. “But the officials said we had six on one possession. But it was kind of Yakima Valley’s style of attacking the hoop. We were blocking their shot and they’d run it down. I don’t think we had quite that many, but we weren’t that far off.”
In consolation games, Edmonds defeated Lower Columbia 91-62 at NIC and Umpqua defeated Grays Harbor 75-66 in Spokane.
Edmonds and Spokane will play in today at 1 p.m. and Yakima Valley and Umpqua will play at 11 a.m. Both games are at NIC.
YAKIMA VALLEY
Jeremy Gaudette 2-2 1-2 5, Korwin Flowers 1-2 0-0 3, Montero Rice 1-6 3-4 5, Jason Bagby 1-4 0-0 2, Shannon Isadore 5-6 0-0 12, Lawrence Fiander 2-8 0-0 5, Joel Yellow Owl 3-9 4-8 10, Tomas Ogbaslassie 1-7 3-6 6, Jacoby Howe 4-4 0-3 8, Rico Bolivar 4-10 0-0 11, Kaipo Pale 4-7 0-0 8. Totals 28-65 11-23 75.
NORTH IDAHO
Jordan McCloud 4-4 1-5 9, Jalil Abdul-Bassit 3-4 1-2 8, Chris Sarbaugh 4-5 2-2 11, Jason Wheelock 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Baracco 1-1 0-0 2, Keon Lewis 5-8 13-13 23, Michael Middlebrooks 7-9 4-4 18, Mikey Hope 2-6 9-12 13, Dalen Erickson 0-2 0-0 0, James Webb 6-9 7-8 20, Kaj Sherman 3-4 3-4 9.
Halftime — NIC 59-40. 3-point goals — YVCC 8-24 (Flowers 1-2, Rice 0-1, Isadore 2-3, Fiander 1-6, Yellow Owl 0-1, Ogbaslassie 1-4, Bolivar 3-7), NIC 3-6 (Abdul-Bassit 1-1, Sarbaugh 1-1, Hope 0-1, Erickson 0-2, Webb 1-1). Rebounds — YVCC 25 (Gaudette, Rice, Yellow Owl 5 each), NIC 39 (McCloud 7). Assists — YVCC 8 (Fiander 3), NIC 14 (Sarbaugh 5). Fouled out — Gaudette, Rice, Yellow Owl. Total fouls — YVCC 32, NIC 21.
• WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
North Idaho 90
NIC all-stars 51
COEUR d’ALENE — Georgia Stirton hit 3 of 4 3-pointers and finished with 17 points and six rebounds for the Cardinals against a team of many of former NIC players.
Katie Buskey added 16 points and Kabri Emerson had 14 points and nine rebounds for NIC (9-0), ranked No. 1 in the NJCAA, and which plays at Columbia Basin College on Wednesday in Pasco, Wash.
Nikki Scott, who played at NIC from 2005-07, led the all-stars with 11 points.
NIC ALL-STARS
Natalie Nichols 4-6 0-1 8, Lindsey Stark 1-8 0-0 2, Marielle McKean 1-7 2-2 4, Marney (Lee) George 3-5 2-2 9, Kia Gibson 3-6 0-0 6, Sheila (Krahn) Sharp 0-1 0-0 0, Cami (Wendt) Gittel 0-1 0-0 0, Angie Gatten 0-2 1-2 1, Barrie (Jensen) Florko 1-3 1-2 4, Lori (Friesz) Cogley 0-0 0-0 0, Nikki Scott 3-7 5-8 11, Shelley (Steigelman) Emerson 3-7 0-0 6. Totals 19-53 11-17 51.
NORTH IDAHO
Angela Woods 1-4 0-0 3, Kabri Emerson 6-10 2-2 14, Georgia Stirton 5-8 4-4 17, Aimee Durbidge 2-6 2-3 7, Hannah Love 4-7 1-7 10, Katie Buskey 6-9 2-2 16, Jansen Butler 0-3 0-0 0, Tori Davenport 2-4 1-2 6, Mollie Kramer 4-7 0-0 9, Danika Johnson 3-9 0-0 6, Maggie Kirscher 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 34-71 12-20 90.
Halftime — N/A. 3-point goals — NIC AS 2-5 (Stark 0-1, George 1-1, Gittel 0-1, Gatten 0-1, Florko 1-1), NIC 10-22 (Woods 1-4, Stirton 3-4, Durbidge 1-3, Love 1-1, Buskey 2-2, Butler 0-3, Davenport 1-2, Kramer 1-2, Kohnson 0-1). Rebounds — NIC AS 29 (Scott 6), NIC 32 (Emerson 9). Assists — NIC AS 12 (Nichols 4), NIC 20 (Stirton 6). Fouled out — McKean. Total fouls — NIC AS 18, NIC 14.
• WRESTLING
Banta falls one match short of placing at prestigious tourney
LAS VEGAS — North Idaho College sophomore Brock Banta lost by a 10-8 decision to Jade Rauser of Utah Valley State to finish tied for ninth at 125 pounds in the Cliff Keen Invitational.
“It was a good back and forth match,” NIC coach Pat Whitcomb said. “Brock got a reversal with two seconds to go to put it into overtime then got taken down in overtime.”
Brian Owen, son of former NIC wrestling coach John Owen, lost by a 2-1 decision to Levi Wolfensperger of Northern Iowa to finished tied for ninth for Boise State at 133 pounds.
NIC finished 28th in the 32-team tournament, comprised of mostly Division I schools. Ohio State won the tournament with 124.5 points.
NIC, currently the No. 1 team in the nation, hosts Northwest Wyoming on Friday.