NIC men, women each ousted in semifinals

| March 1, 2014 8:00 PM

EPHRAIM, Utah - Will Dorsey scored 19 points and Bryce Leavitt had 18 points, six rebounds and six assists for the third-seeded North Idaho College men's basketball team in an 89-72 loss to the second-seeded Salt Lake Bruins in the Region 18 tournament semifinals at Snow College.

NIC finished the game 26 of 66 from the field, compared to Salt Lake, which finished 30 of 63.

"We just couldn't hit shots," NIC coach Jared Phay said. "We struggled shooting from the field. To Salt Lake's credit, they defended and rebounded really well."

NIC finishes 21-11.

Leavitt was named to the All-Scenic West Athletic Conference first team on Thursday, with Braxton Tucker being selected to the second team and Dorsey earning honorable mention.

Shikei Blake had 13 points and four rebounds for NIC.

"Will played really well for us," Phay said. "Shikei played well for us too. As a whole, we just struggled shooting the ball a little bit this week."

Neal Monson had 21 points and five rebounds for Salt Lake (25-6), which faces top-seeded Southern Idaho (27-4) in the Region 18 tournament championship game tonight at 6:30 p.m. PST

In other tournament play, Montigo Alford scored 20 points to lead Southern Idaho past Utah State-Eastern (21-10) 87-77.

NORTH IDAHO

Braxton Tucker 3-12 3-3 9, Brad Wallace 28 0-0 5, Bryce Leavitt 6-11 6-6 18, Nathan Rathbun 0-3 0-0 0, Jordan King 0-3 0-0 0, Jason Wheelock 0-0 0-0 0, Will Dorsey 8-11 0-0 10, Cole Kesler 0-6 0-0 0, Fuquan Niles 1-1 0-1 2, Shikei Blake 4-6 5-5 13, Ty Higbie 2-5 0-0 6. Totals 26-66 14-15 72.

SALT LAKE

Kurtis Toolson 3-8 4-6 10, Gary Payton II 7-11 0-0 14, De'Sean Parsons 3-8 4-6 11, Jaden Jackson 3-12 4-4 13, Neal Monson 7-11 7-10 21, CJ Spjute 3-7 0-0 8, Collin Woods 0-0 0-0 0, Zerrion Payton 2-3 2-2 6, Larry Okhomina 2-3 0-0 4, John Paul 0-0 2-2 2, Aquavius Young 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-63 23-30 89.

Halftime - SLCC 38-24. 3-point goals - NIC 6-25 (Tucker 0-1, Wallace 1-5, Leavitt 0-1, King 0-2, Dorsey 3-6, Kesler 0-6, Higbie 2-4), SLCC 6-22 (Toolson 0-1, G. Payton 0-1, Parsons 1-4, Jackson 3-9, Monson 0-1, Spjute 2-4, Z. Payton 0-1, Okhomina 0-1). Rebounds - NIC 31 (Tucker 6), SLCC 43 (Parsons 11). Assists - NIC 10 (Leavitt 6), SLCC 14 (G. Payton 5). Team fouls - NIC 25, SLCC 14. Fouled out - Dorsey

* WOMEN

Southern Idaho 76

North Idaho 68

EPHRAIM, Utah - Renae Mokrzycki had 26 points and 11 rebounds for the third-seed Cardinals, which lost a semifinal game in the Region 18 tournament

see NIC, B2

to the second-seeded Golden Eagles on Friday afternoon at Snow College.

NIC finishes 22-10.

Georgia Stirton scored 16 points and Panisesi Taimani had 10 points and eight rebounds for NIC.

Julia Dufferena scored 16 points for CSI (28-3), which faces top-seeded Salt Lake (25-6) today at 4:30 p.m. PST for the region's automatic berth to the national tournament in Salina, Kan., March 17-22. In other tournament play, Summer Yack hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 49 seconds remaining to lift Salt Lake past Snow (14-16) 67-65.

NIC sophomores Stirton and Mokrzycki were named to the all-Scenic West Athletic Conference first team on Thursday night.

Freshman Kara Staggs earned honorable mention for NIC.

NORTH IDAHO

Georgia Stirton 6-19 3-3 16, Jansen Butler 2-4 1-3 6, Kara Staggs 0-7 0-0 0, Renae Mokrzycki 11-18 3-4 26, Panisesi Taimani 4-7 0-0 10, Katie King 0-0 0-0 0, Bailey Schroeder 1-1 0-0 3, Ryleigh Swagerty 0-0 3-5 3, Sabrina Earle 1-3 0-0 2, Caitlyn Behymer 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 26-64 10-15 68.

SOUTHERN IDAHO

Zuleika Grinsell 0-4 1-2 1, Julia Dufurrena 7-9 1-1 16, Patrice Toston 4-11 4-4 12, Holly Blades 3-11 4-4 12, Elisbet Lopez Sagrera 1-6 3-4 5, Alli Furniss 0-1 0-0 0, Cassidy Jones 2-4 0-0 5, Jackie Macias 0-0 0-0 0, McClain Williams 1-2 0-0 3, Rachelle Owens 2-3 2-2 6, Sarah Larson 2-3 1-2 5, Brittany Wirth 0-0 0-0 0, Kayla Stephens 3-3 5-6 11. Totals 25-57 21-25 76.

Halftime - CSI 49-37. 3-point goals - NIC 6-22 (Stirton 1-6, Butler 1-3, Staggs 0-3, Mokrzycki 1-4, Taimani 2-3, Schroeder 1-1, Behymer 0-2), CSI 5-18 (Grinsell 0-3, Duferrena 1-2, Toston 0-3, Blades 2-6, Furniss 0-1, Jones 1-2, Williams 1-1). Rebounds - NIC 34 (Mokrzycki 11), CSI 34 (Blades, Lopez Sagrera 8). Assists - NIC 13 (Stirton, Butler 3), CSI 12 (Toston 5). Team fouls - NIC 18, CSI 15. Fouled out - none.