NIC ROUNUP: Cardinal men win tourney opener
<p>SHAWN GUST/Press North Idaho College’s Kyle Guice saves the ball from going out of bounds in the second half against Whatcom Community College Friday in Coeur d’Alene. The save resulted in a slam dunk by team mate Braian Angola Rodas.</p>
<p>SHAWN GUST/Press North Idaho College’s Braian Angola Rodas steals the ball from Whatcom Community College’s Deon Thomas in the second half.</p>
• MEN’S BASKETBALL
COEUR d’ALENE — Braian Angola-Rodas had 19 points, 11 rebounds and five steals to lead North Idaho College — ranked 17th in this week’s NJCAA poll — to a 70-57 win over the Whatcom Community College Orcas of Bellingham, Wash., in the opening round of the Bigfoot/Cardinal Classic on Friday night at Rolly Williams Court.
NIC, which led 27-26 at halftime, pulled away in the second half.
“It was a good game for us because we didn’t shoot the ball very well, so it was nice for our guys to grit it out,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “Our two leading scorers, including Braian, stepped up and sparked us.”
NIC (9-0) will face Big Bend in a semifinal game tonight at 7:30 at Rolly Williams Court.
Earlier at NIC, Big Bend beat Green River 92-85. In other tournament games at Spokane Community College, Everett outlasted Yakima Valley 105-104 in triple overtime and Community Colleges of Spokane ran past Centralia 115-72.
WHATCOM
Leif Anderson 3-8 0-0 8, Deon Thomas 3-8 0-0 7, Quinn Daugharty 0-1 1-2 1, Matthew Seymour 2-4 0-0 6, Jordan Johnson 3-13 5-9 12, Logan Schilder 1-2 2-4 4, Casey Leek 2-6 2-6 6, Taylor Bahr 0-1 0-0 0, Daulton Lootens 2-4 0-0 6, Isaac Reimer 3-5 1-2 7. Totals 19-52 11-23 57.
NORTH IDAHO
Sam Dowd 2-4 0-0 5, Lucas Antunez 1-5 2-3 4, Haywood Irwin 1-4 0-0 2, Trey Burch-Manning 5-6 3-3 13, Brayon (BJ) Blake 2-15 5-9 9, Braian Angola-Rodas 7-17 3-5 19, Kaleb Warner 2-8 0-0 6, Kyle Guice 3-7 3-4 12, Zaequan Satterthwaite 0-2 0-0 0, Scott Turner 0-1 0-0 0, Tony Naccarato 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-69 16-24 70.
Halftime — NIC 27-26. 3-point goals — WCC 8-16 (Anderson 2-3, Thomas 1-3, Seymour 2-2, Johnson 1-4, Lootens 2-4), NIC 8-27 (Dowd 1-2, Antunez 0-2, Blake 0-2, Angola-Rodas 2-6, Warner 2-7, Guice 3-7, Satterhwaite 0-1). Rebounds — WCC 53 (Johnson 17), NIC 40 (Angola-Rodas 11). Assists — WCC 8 (Anderson, Johnson, Reimer 2), NIC 12 (Antunez, Blake 3). Team fouls — WCC 23, NIC 23. Fouled out — Thomas, Seymour, Warner.
• WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
North Idaho 81
Skagit Valley 54
BELLEVUE, Wash. — Shelby Cloninger came off the bench to score 20 points and lead North Idaho past Skagit Valley in a battle of the Cardinals in the opening round of the Bulldog Classic on the campus of Bellevue College.
Monica Landdeck had 18 points, Maci Benedict 13 points and four rebounds and Grace Varcoe nine points and 12 rebounds for NIC (6-1), which faces Highline tonight at 5 in the semifinals.
“It was one of our better games this year,” NIC coach Chris Carlson said. “I felt we played a complete game, very aggressive and we just had a strong outing for us. Grace Varcoe had another big rebounding game ... Monica Landdeck had a breakout game.”
Skagit Valley (1-4) faces Everett today in a loser-out game today at 1 p.m.
NORTH IDAHO
Gracie Roberts 1-4 1-2 3, Maci Benedict 4-9 2-2 13, Alyssa Case 1-4 1-2 4, Shelby Cloninger 8-15 2-2 20, Monica Landdeck 7-15 2-3 18, Jocelyn Cook-Cox 2-3 1-2 5, Ebony Norman 0-2 0-0 0, Clarissa Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Stormee Van Belle 3-7 3-3 9, Grace Varcoe 3-5 3-5 9, Charity Marlatt 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-65 15-21 81.
SKAGIT VALLEY
Breanna Chau 2-3 2-2 6, Jordyn Turner 5-7 2-2 12, Nikkie Froehlich 1-1 0-0 2, Madeline Bryan 1-1 0-1 2, Joelle Zamora 1-4 0-2 2, Jacqueline Case 1-4 0-0 2, Deidra Miller 1-4 1-2 3, Miranda Dixon 2-6 1-4 7, Mandy Hayes 0-4 2-4 2, Jessica Filtz 0-0 1-2 1, Jenika Anglim 3-7 2-2 8, Nianiella Dorvall 0-2 0-0 0, Alexas Besand 2-4 1-2 5. Totals 20-51 14-21 54.
North Idaho 21 20 26 14 — 81
Skagit Valley 14 20 12 8 — 54
3-point goals — NIC 8-26 (Roberts 0-2, Benedict 3-8, Case 1-3, Cloninger 2-4, Landdeck 2-8, Varcoe 0-1), SVC 0-5 (Zamora 0-2, Hayes 0-1, Anglim 0-2). Rebounds — NIC 43 (Varcoe 12), SVC 29 (Anglim 7). Assists — NIC 15 (Norman 3), SVC 4 (Turner 2). Team fouls — NIC 21, SVC 15. Fouled out — none.
• WRESTLING
LAS VEGAS — Both Dajour Reese (165 pounds) and former Lakeland High standout Chase Campbell (174) picked up wins, but were eliminated later in the 34th annual Cliff Keen Invitational at the Cashman Center.
“Dajour had a great win against a kid from Boise State and Chase beat a kid from American,” NIC coach Pat Whitcomb said. “It was a eye-opener for some of those freshmen going up against guys from Michigan, Ohio State and Oklahoma.”
All of NIC’s entrants were eliminated from the two-day competition on Friday.
NIC returns home to host Northwest College of Powell, Wyo., in the first leg of the Battle for the Moose on Friday at 7 p.m.