Cardinal men win tourney opener
SPOKANE - The North Idaho College men's basketball team hasn't had much of an issue scoring in the past two games, reaching the 100-point plateau in both as the Cardinals beat the Spokane All-Stars 100-83 in the opening game of the Bigfoot Classic at Spokane Community College on Friday afternoon.
NIC led 52-51 early in the second half, but pulled away by holding the team of former Community Colleges of Spokane players to 14-of-41 (34.1 percent) shooting from the field in the second half.
"We're scoring, but just trying to get better at defending with the way they're calling things this year," NIC coach Jared Phay said. "Our effort was better in the second half and we're starting to understand where our effort needs to be."
Bryce Leavitt shot 6 of 9 from the field and 8 of 9 from the foul line and finished with a game-high 23 points for NIC (10-2), which has won its last four games.
NIC made 11 of 22 3-point field goals. Spokane took a whopping 56 3-point shots, making 17.
"I knew they were putting up a lot of those (3-point) shots, but I didn't realize it was that many until after the game," Phay said. "They got down a little bit and started putting a lot up. We got a little more active on the boards and weren't giving up too many second-chance opportunities and started to wear them down a little bit."
Zach Humphrey, who also played at Lethbridge (Alberta) University, scored 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting from beyond the 3-point line for the Spokane All-Stars. Kevin Cameron also had 18 points for Spokane.
NIC will face Everett in the semifinals tonight at 5 p.m. at Spokane Community College. Everett beat Yakima Valley 91-85 on Friday.
NORTH IDAHO
Jason Wheelock 3-4 4-4 11, Braxton Tucker 5-7 3-4 13, Brad Wallace 2-7 3-4 9, Bryce Leavitt 6-9 8-9 23, Nathan Rathbun 0-0 2-2 2, Will Dorsey 4-11 0-0 9, Cole Kesler 5-8 2-2 16, Fuquan Niles 3-3 0-0 6, Tatafu Nuku 2-3 0-0 4, Jordon King 1-3 0-0 2, Shikei Blake 0-1 1-2 1, Ty Higbie 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-58 23-27 100.
SPOKANE ALL-STARS
Derek Gianukakis 3-9 0-0 8, Kevin Cameron 7-15 0-0 18, Abbrae Harvey 4-8 2-2 11, Ryan Erickson 3-8 0-0 9, Zach Humphrey 6-15 0-0 18, Kevin Bond 3-14 0-0 7, Garrett Stroseher 1-7 0-0 2, Jared Tikker 4-8 2-2 10. Totals 31-84 17-56 83.
Halftime - NIC 41-40. 3-point goals - NIC 11-22 (Wheelock 1-2, Wallace 2-6, Leavitt 3-5, Dorsey 1-3, Kesler 4-6), SAS 17-56 (Gianukakis 2-8, Cameron 4-9, Harvey 1-4, Erickson 3-8, Humphrey 6-14, Bond 1-6, Stroseher 0-5, Tikker 0-2). Rebounds - NIC 44 (Tucker, Leavitt 7), SAS 35 (Stroseher 10). Assists - NIC 18 (Dorsey 9), SAS 17 (Cameron 6). Team fouls - NIC 12, SAS 18. Fouled out - Harvey. Technical foul - Gianukakis.
NIC's Booth goes 2-2
vs. four-year schools
LAS VEGAS - Former Post Falls High standout Derrick Booth went 2-2 in the 165-pound bracket of the Cliff Keen Invitational, which features teams from the NJCAA, NCAA and NAIA at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
"Derrick had a really good draw and wrestled really tough today," NIC coach Pat Whitcomb said. "The Oklahoma kid that beat him (Clark Glass, by an 8-0 decision) is really good, but it definitely will help his confidence going forward."
Carlos Lozoya (133), Terrance McKinney (141) and Jeremy Golding (149) each went 1-2 for NIC.
No NIC wrestlers qualified for the tournament's second day today. The Cardinals were one of only two two-year schools in the tourney; the rest were four-year schools.
"We came off that dual (a 45-3 win against Western Wyoming on Thursday), and we feel good about that," Whitcomb said. "But we take a licking today, but to get our guys to wrestle against the top guys in the nation, now they see what it's going to take to be successful."
NIC, the top-ranked team in the NJCAA poll, returns home to face No. 2 Northwest College of Powell, Wyo., next Friday at 7 p.m. at Christianson Gym.