NIC ROUNDUP: Cardinal men win OT thriller, clinch No. 3 seed for tourney
• MEN
PRICE, Utah — Thrilling finishes are nothing new for the North Idaho College and Utah State-Eastern Utah men’s basketball teams.
Saturday’s game was no exception.
Antoine Hosley hit a 3-pointer with 29 seconds remaining in overtime as the Cardinals beat the Golden Eagles 80-79 in the Scenic West Athletic Conference finale for both schools. With a chance to tie the game at the free-throw line, Eastern’s Neveij Walters missed his second shot with two seconds left.
“With us this season, why not go into overtime,” NIC coach Jared Phay said.
NIC beat Eastern 81-78 in triple overtime on Feb. 11 in Coeur d’Alene and 74-71 in overtime on Jan. 11 in Price.
“This was big for us,” Phay said. “We knew it was going to be a battle. We’ve played them three times and all of them have gone at least one overtime. We tried to prepare as if this was the opening round of the regional tournament. I’m proud of how the guys battled.”
NIC’s Kaj Sherman had 17 points and 17 rebounds and Hosley scored all five points in overtime.
“Kaj was huge for us tonight,” Phay said. “They just couldn’t stop him. This was probably his best game of the season.”
The win, along with Salt Lake’s victory at Snow, gives the Cardinals (23-7, 9-6) the No. 3 seed into the Region 8 tournament.
Tournament host Salt Lake is the No. 2 seed and Snow, which entered Saturday second in the conference, falls to the No. 4 seed. College of Southern Idaho is the No. 1 seed, Colorado Northwestern the No. 5.
Michael Middlebrooks had 13 points and eight rebounds for NIC.
Utah State-Eastern, ineligible for the postseason, concludes 16-13, 4-11.
NORTH IDAHO
Antoine Hosley 8-16 0-0 18, Keon Lewis 6-18 1-3 16, Edrico McGregor 3-7 0-0 6, Petar Joksimovic 0-3 0-0 0, Kaj Sherman 8-14 1-3 17, Jordan McCloud 2-5 0-0 4, Connor White 2-3 0-0 6, Kwame Bates 0-1 0-0 0, Michael Middlebrooks 6-9 1-2 13, Tyrell Lewis 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 35-77 3-8 80.
UTAH STATE-EASTERN UTAH
Dashaun Wiggins 6-17 3-6 17, Demetrus Richardson 5-15 1-2 13, Chase Flint 7-15 1-2 21, Neveij Walters 3-5 4-6 10, LaSalle McKay 3-7 2-2 10, Travon Langston 0-1 0-0 0, Dominique Lawrence 1-1 0-0 3, Eric Hansen 1-3 0-0 3, Mufitcan Alp 0-2 0-0 0, David Dawson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 27-67 11-18 79.
Halftime — NIC 44-41. 3-point goals — NIC 7-22 (Hosley 2-6, K. Lewis 3-8, Joksimovic 0-3, McCloud 0-1, White 2-3, Bates 0-1), USEU 14-36 (Wiggins 2-5, Richardson 2-7, Flint 6-12, McKay 2-5, Langston 0-1, Lawrence 1-1, Hansen 1-3, Alp 0-2). Rebounds — NIC 49 (Sherman 17), USEU 42 (Walters 12). Assists — NIC 17 (Joksimovic 6), USEU 16 (Richardson, Flint 5). Team fouls — NIC 17, USEU 16. Fouled out — none.
• WOMEN
Utah St.-E. Utah 78
North Idaho 68
PRICE, Utah — Korina Baker had 11 points, five rebounds and five steals for the seventh-ranked Cardinals, but the nation’s leading scorer was the difference in the Scenic West Athletic Conference finale for both schools.
Utah State-Eastern Utah’s Priscila Santos scored 40 points on 13-of-24 shooting from the field and 14 of 16 from the foul line as the Golden Eagles beat the Cardinals.
The win, along with CSI’s loss at Colorado Northwestern and Snow’s win over Salt Lake, moves Utah State-Eastern to the No. 3 seed in the Region 18 tournament, starting Thursday in Salt Lake City.
“Eastern was playing for a lot more than we were today,” NIC coach Chris Carlson said. “And it sure looked like it. They played hard — Santos and (Hailee) Perry hit some shots. We were sluggish after spending eight hours on the bus.”
Santos was averaging 29.5 points a game entering Saturday.
“She got loose out there,” Carlson said. “She’s got a nice shot.”
NIC (23-5) will face the winner of Thursday’s Salt Lake-Southern Idaho game Friday at 4:30 p.m. (PST).
NORTH IDAHO
Katie Buskey 2-7 0-1 5, Korina Baker 3-7 5-10 11, Aimee Durbidge 3-7 4-4 10, Julia Salmio 4-6 2-4 10, Danika Johnson 0-2 4-4 4, Angela Woods 1-4 0-0 3, Tori Davenport 3-7 3-4 9, Dani Kastrava 0-0 0-0 0, Mollie Kramer 0-1 2-2 2, Hannah Love 3-6 2-4 8, Ashleigh Kelman-Poto 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 225-1 22-33 68.
UTAH STATE-EASTERN UTAH
Hailee Perry 7-11 2-2 20, Amy Arbon 4-6 2-2 10, Priscila Santos 13-24 14-16 40, Abbie Kay 0-4 5-6 5, Brooke Slade 0-0 3-6 3, Candice Cornaby 0-0 0-0 0, Sarah Fletcher 0-0 0-0 0, Whitney Fieldsted 0-1 0-0 0, Kathryn Bigelow 0-1 0-0 0, Jasmine Petit 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-27 26-32 78.
Halftime — USEU 35-34. 3-point goals — NIC 2-11 (Buskey 1-5, Durbidge 0-1, Salmio 0-1, Woods 1-3, Davenport 0-1), USEU 4-8 (Parry 4-5, Arbon 0-1, Kay 0-2). Rebounds — NIC 30 (Love 9), USEU 33 (Arbon 7). Assists — NIC 12 (Buskey 4), USEU 11 (Arbon 4). Team fouls — NIC 23, USEU 26. Fouled out — Kay, Salmio.
• SOFTBALL
North Idaho 9-1-1
South. Idaho 8-2-4
TWIN FALLS — Briana Bishop drove in four runs as the Cardinals rallied from seven runs down to beat the Golden Eagles in the first game of a Scenic West Athletic Conference tripleheader.
Nicole Atkinson hit a solo home run in the fourth inning of a 2-1 loss in the second game for NIC.
Ashley Moon hit a solo home run in the seventh inning of the third game for NIC (12-21, 11-13 SWAC), which hosts Big Bend on Saturday, tentatively scheduled for Memorial Field.
Former Lakeland High standout Alyana Watson singled and scored in the third game for CSI (21-10, 13-5).
FIRST GAME
North Idaho 000 143 1 — 9 11 0
Southern Idaho 070 100 0 — 8 9 4
Emily Perlich, Danielle Hockett (6) and Shelby Carter; Jyl Eckstein, Jessi Duncan (6) and Kelsie Webster. W — Hockett. L — Duncan.
HITS: NIC — Wise, B. Bishop 2, Carter, Atkinson, Meyers, Moon, Lupinacci 2, Schmerer, H. Bishop. CSI — Wilkinson 2, Hopson 2, Ferguson, Hogue 2, Brailsford 2. 2B — B. Bishop, Hopson. HR — Carter, Atkinson, Moon, Brailsford.
SECOND GAME
North Idaho 000 100 0 — 1 7 0
Southern Idaho 001 001 x — 2 5 1
Nicole Atkinson and Shelby Carter; Grace Combs and Averie Schroeder. W — Combs. L — Atkinson.
HITS: NIC — Atkinson, Moon 2, Hockett, H. Bishop 3. CSI — Hogue 2, Brailsford, Surrage, Stacey. 2B — Moon, Hogue. HR — Atkinson.
THIRD GAME
North Idaho 000 000 1 — 1 4 1
Southern Idaho 000 103 x — 4 5 1
Emily Perlich, Danielle Hockett (6), Nicole Atkinson (6) and Shelby Carter; Jessi Duncan and Kelsie Webster. W — Duncan. L — Perlich.
HITS: NIC — Carter, Moon, Schmerer, Hockett. CSI — Watson, Hopson, Ferguson, Buttars 2. 2B — Carter. 3B — Buttars. HR — Moon, Ferguson.