REGION 18 WOMEN'S, MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT: Cardinal women roll into semifinals
• WOMEN
TWIN FALLS — Sophomore Shelby Cloninger had 18 points, six rebounds and two steals, leading the fourth-seeded North Idaho College past fifth-seeded Utah State-Eastern 84-67 in the opening round of the Region 18 tournament on Thursday on the campus of the College of Southern Idaho.
NIC (21-8) will face top-seeded Salt Lake (29-1) in today’s semifinal round at 4:30 p.m. PST.
“At the start of the game, we weren’t as strong on defense as we’d liked to have been,” NIC coach Chris Carlson said. “But we were scoring the ball. We got a little tighter on the defensive pressure in the third quarter and just opened the game up. We were a little slow on the defensive end, but I was really happy with the offense. Everybody played, and we couldn’t have drawn it up any better for a start. I was really pleased.”
Stormee Van Belle, who was named to the all-region first team, finished with 16 points and six rebounds for NIC, which finished the game 13 of 31 from beyond the 3-point line.
Alyssa Case scored 12 points off the bench for NIC, which outscored Utah State-Eastern 29-7 on points by its reserves.
“I think we’re still fresh and playing with some confidence with a game under our belt,” Carlson said. “I like where we’re at right now, I really do.”
Maile Richardson scored 21 points for Utah State-Eastern, which finishes 9-20.
UTAH STATE-EASTERN
Maile Richardson 8-16 4-5 21, Barbara Contreras 4-7 2-2 14, Ashley Price 1-3 0-0 3, Ana Borges 1-10 6-8 8, Clarissa Perez 6-15 2-2 14, Kila Mateah Tuckett 1-2 0-0 2, Bryndie Ballam 0-2 0-0 0, Ashlyn Coleman 1-1 1-2 3, Mckenzie Burrows 1-3 0-0 2, Ayanna Ford 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-61 15-19 67.
NORTH IDAHO
Maci Benedict 3-7 0-0 8, Shelby Cloninger 7-13 2-4 18, Monica Landdeck 3-11 0-0 8, Ebony Norman 2-5 1-2 5, Stormee Van Belle 7-10 0-0 16, Gracie Roberts 1-3 0-0 2, Alyssa Case 5-7 0-0 12, Kaylee Olson 0-2 0-0 0, Jocelyn Cook-Cox 2-3 2-4 8, Clarissa Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Grace Varcoe 3-5 0-0 7, Sidney Davis 0-2 0-0 0, Charity Marlatt 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-69 5-10 84.
US-Eastern 20 18 13 16 — 67
North Idaho 24 27 21 12 — 84
3-point goals — USUE 6-15 (Richardson 1-1, Contreras 4-7, Price 1-1, Perez 0-3, Tuckett 0-1, Ballam 0-2), NIC 13-31 (Benedict 2-4, Cloninger 2-4, Landdeck 2-7, Norman 0-2, Van Belle 2-3, Roberts 0-2, Case 2-4, Olson 0-2, Cook-Cox 2-2, Varcoe 1-1). Rebounds — USUE 35 (Borges 8), NIC 43 (Benedict 7). Assists — USUE 14 (Perez 4), NIC 25 (Benedict 7). Team fouls — USUE 11, NIC 15. Fouled out — none.
Snow 70, Colorado Northwestern 61: Brooke Wheeler had 19 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Badgers (20-11) in a win over the Spartans (10-20) in an opening round game.
Snow, the tournament’s third seed, will face tournament host and second-seed Southern Idaho (26-4) today at 11 a.m. PST.
Rachel Prescott scored 14 points for sixth seed Colorado Northwestern.
ALL-REGION 18 TEAM
Coach of the Year — Betsy Specketer, Salt Lake
First team
Kandiss Barber, Southern Idaho (Player of the Year); Tilar Clark, Salt Lake (Player of the Year); Samantha Lubcke, Southern Idaho; Iva Georgieva, Salt Lake; Brooke Wheeler, Snow; Stormee Van Belle, North Idaho.
Second team
Kaitlyn Hurley, Snow; Brianna Osorio, Southern Idaho; Ana Borges, Utah State-Eastern; Elsa Paulsson Glantz, Salt Lake; Maci Benedict, North Idaho; Shelby Harvey, Colorado Northwester; Barbara Cousino, Utah State-Eastern.
Honorable mention
Ma’ata Epenisa, Salt Lake; Lisa VanCampen, Snow; Monica Landdeck, North Idaho; Monique Mills, Salt Lake; Ma Kenzie VanSickle, Southern Idaho.
• MEN
Snow 103, Utah State-Eastern 87: Norbert Janicek had 28 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, leading the fourth-seeded Badgers (15-16) past the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles (18-13) in an opening round game.
Janicek finished the game 12 of 14 from the field for Snow, which faces top-seeded North Idaho tonight at 6:30 in the semifinals. NIC beat Snow 80-67 in the regular season finale for both last Saturday at Rolly Williams Court.
Brandon Sly scored 32 points for Utah State-Eastern, which finishes 18-13.
Before the game, North Idaho sophomore Braian Angola-Rodas was named Player of the Year and BJ Blake were named to the all-Region 18 team. Second-year NIC coach Corey Symons was named Coach of the Year.
Salt Lake 98, Colorado Northwestern 56: Bushman Ebet scored 17 points for the Bruins (23-8) in a win over the Spartans (3-27) in an opening round game.
Salt Lake, the tournament’s third seed, will face second-seeded and host Southern Idaho today at 1 p.m. PST in the semifinals.
Corey Martin scored 19 points for sixth seed Colorado Northwestern.
ALL-REGION 18 TEAM
Coach of the Year — Corey Symons, North Idaho
First team
Braian Angola-Rodas, North Idaho (Player of the Year); BJ Blake, North Idaho; Tyler Rawson, Salt Lake; Shaq Carr, Southern Idaho; Norbert Janicek, Snow; Pape Diatta, Southern Idaho.
Second team
Phillip Winston, Utah State-Eastern; Gibson Johnson, Salt Lake; Ar’Mond Davis, Southern Idaho; Braden Koelliker, Snow; Lucas Antunez, North Idaho; Brandon Sly, Utah State-Eastern.
Honorable mention
Kaleb Warner, North Idaho; Kyle Guice, North Idaho; Trey Burch-Manning, North Idaho; EJ Boyce, Southern Idaho; Marcus White, Salt Lake; Conner Toolson, Salt Lake; Tevin Farris, Utah State-Eastern; Soloman Rolls-Tyson, Utah State-Eastern; Van Merbin, Colorado Northwestern; Riley Panter, Snow.
REGION 18 TOURNAMENT
at College of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls
Times PST
MEN’S
Thursday
Salt Lake 98, Colorado Northwestern 56
Snow 103, Utah State-Eastern 87
Friday
No. 3 Salt Lake (23-8) vs. No. 2 Southern Idaho (22-8), 1 p.m. (semifinal)
No. 4 Snow (15-16) vs. No. 1 North Idaho (30-0), 6:30 (semifinal)
Saturday
Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 8, 6:30 (championship game, winner advances to host West District championship game on March 5)
WOMEN’S
Thursday
Snow 70, Colorado Northwestern 61
North Idaho 84, Utah State-Eastern 67
Friday
Game 5 — No. 3 Snow (20-11) vs. No. 2 Southern Idaho (26-4), 11 a.m.
Game 7 — No. 4 North Idaho (21-8) vs. No. 1 Salt Lake (29-1), 4:30 p.m.
Saturday
Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 7, 4 p.m. (championship game)