Confident in the Cardinal family

A funny thing happened for Braian Angola-Rodas on his way back to his native Columbia to being a career as a professional basketball player.

He met North Idaho College men’s basketball coach Corey Symons.

Not ha-ha funny, but the two are having a blast on the basketball court this season.

“I was in Oregon kind of deciding what to do with basketball,” Angola-Rodas said. “I was thinking about going back to Columbia to play professionally. Then coach Corey came to a camp I was at, recruited me and brought me to Coeur d’Alene for a visit. When I came here, it was a nice place to be. The people here are great, the summer was great, and I just wanted to get my degree.”

The 6-foot-6 sophomore guard is on track to get his Associate of Arts degree this spring.

As a freshman last year, Angola-Rodas averaged 13.8 points per game, starting 28 of 32 games for NIC.

“Last year, my confidence was a big factor,” Angola-Rodas said. “I didn’t have much confidence in myself. This year, the coaches, my teammates, they trust me and get me the ball, and I think that’s helped me a lot. My shooting is really good right now, so I’ve got a lot of confidence in myself right now.”

Through Tuesday’s game, Angola-Rodas is second in the NJCAA in scoring with 25.1 points per game in 29.6 minutes per game. His 102 field goals (on 173 attempts) ranks third in the nation and he’s seventh in overall points with 301.

“He’s grown a lot as a player,” Symons said. “A lot of his success has come from our team chemistry. Last year, we had a lot of great guys and had a great year. Some of the guys didn’t always get along and didn’t hang out with each other off the court. This group, they’re a tight-knit group.”

On Tuesday, with coaches from Florida International in the stands scouting him, Angola-Rodas scored a season-high 39 points on 14-of-20 shooting from the field, including 6 of 8 from beyond the 3-point line, in a 110-81 victory over Columbia Basin College.

“It was a great game for him to play,” Symons said. “He’s shooting the ball really well right now with a good percentage. He pushed it a little more on the offensive end than I normally would have liked him to, but when you’re top two guys are scoring 60 points a night and shooting a good percentage, that’s a pretty good to have.”

Braydon (BJ) Blake is 37th in the nation in scoring with 19.7 per game. He’s scored over 20 points in six of the Cardinals’ 12 games this season, including 28 points twice.

“This team, compared to last year, the chemistry is way, way better,” Angola-Rodas said. “Off the court, we’re all hanging around each other. We’re always laughing and joking around with each other. We really feel comfortable with each other.”

Angola-Rodas was named NJCAA national player of the week for Nov. 9-15.

“Being national player of the week, it’s a big deal,” Angola-Rodas said. “When I came to play at Findlay Prep (in Las Vegas), I wasn’t playing that much, or really at all.”

NIC finished 24-8 last year after advancing to the Region 18 tournament championship game in Price, Utah. In the week between the regular season finale in Salt Lake City and regionals, the team stayed in Utah, where they spend time bowling and attended an NBA game between San Antonio and Utah in Salt Lake City.

“Last year, that extra time together was the thing that helped us get to the championship game,” Angola-Rodas said. “That extra time together was the thing that really helped. Since then, we’ve been playing kickball with each other, hang out at each other’s houses and have lunch together. We’re all really close as a team and it’s definitely one of the things that really helped us become a family. Everyone is buying into what we’re trying to do. The bench, coaches, all of the guys are into making this team better.”

NIC (12-0) opens Scenic West Athletic Conference play against the College of Southern Idaho on Saturday, with the men’s game at 7:30 p.m., preceded by the women’s game at 5:30.

“It’s a really big, big game for us and all the Idaho people,” Angola-Rodas said. “It’s very big and personally, (CSI) coach (Jared) Phay and (assistant) coach Jeff (Johnson) have both been here. Jeff was here last year, and was one of the guys that I loved and really helped me, but had a good opportunity to move on. It’s a really big game for us and hopefully we can make good and play well for all those people that come out and support us.”

As for that confidence, Angola-Rodas appears to have that going in the right direction this year.

“I’ve learned a lot from Corey in the last two years,” Angola-Rodas said. “It’s about staying focused all the time and don’t worry about all the other stuff and when you come into the game, don’t think about anything but the game. My life has been really tough the last few years with my father passing away. Corey has been a good friend of mine, and I really love him. He picked me up when nobody was looking for me and brought me here. He tells us all the time that 10 percent of what happens in life is what happens to you, and the other 90 percent is how you react to it. If you make bad decisions on the court, just keep running and working hard and good things will happen.”

CSI (9-3), which opened the season as the preseason No. 1 team, has lost two of three games, losing to Arizona Western 88-81 on Nov. 28 in Twin Falls. NIC beat Arizona Western 80-64 on Nov. 14 in Yuma, Ariz.

“They’re extremely talented,” said Symons of CSI. “They’ve got high-talent players and coach Phay does a great job with them. They’ve dropped a few games, but it’s important for our guys to realize that it’s CSI. They’re not coming in here thinking they’re going to lose to NIC — that doesn’t happen — and they’re going to be ready to go. I know that staff, and they’re going to have them ready to do and they’ve got a little inside scoop with Jared and Jeff down there. We’re going to play loose and get after it a little bit.”

CSI lost guard Geno Artison — a transfer from Fresno State — to a torn Achilles in the team’s game against Arizona Western on Nov. 28.

“They’re still capable of being what they were in the preseason and being the No. 1 team,” Symons said. “When one of your best players gets hurt, it takes a while to find your identity. And that’s what they’re doing right now. But they’re still very capable of finding a way to win games.”

Angola-Rodas played with CSI guard Pape Diatta during summer ball before moving on to college.

“I really got to know him well and he’s one of my guys,” Angola-Rodas said. “Coach Phay and coach Jeff, we know them really well, so it’s going to be really fun to see them and I just hope the game goes really well.”

CSI’s women’s team (12-0) is fourth in this week’s NJCAA poll, with NIC (9-1) entering Saturday’s game on an eight-game winning streak.

“They’re undefeated and playing really well right now,” NIC women’s coach Chris Carlson said of CSI. “They’ve got a really good transfer from Arizona (Kandiss Barber) who’s averaging 16.4 points per game and an all-league post (Samantha Lubcke) back. They’re just a nice team. They’re solid, quick and have some good guards. It should be a great game.”

NIC sophomore Shelby Cloninger is fourth in the conference in scoring at 16.1 points per game and Monica Landdeck is 10th with 11.7. NIC leads the conference in scoring with 81.2 points per game, with CSI third at 80.7.