Turning up the intensity this month
Chances are, if you’re not playing at your best when the calendar turns to February, it could be a lot closer to packing up the basketballs or rolling up the wrestling mats for the final time this season.
Not to say a team couldn’t catch fire in the coming weeks, but the time is running out quickly to turn things around.
WHEN IT comes to the North Idaho College men’s basketball team, after a few setbacks early in Northwest Athletic Conference play against Walla Walla and Spokane, the Cardinals have won three straight games, beating Columbia Basin College in Pasco 81-55 on Monday night.
“We haven’t shot the ball really well,” said NIC men’s basketball coach Corey Symons following the team’s 79-58 win at Blue Mountain Community College of Pendleton, Ore., last Saturday. “But that’s fine because we’ve got some of the best bigs in the league.”
Those bigs he is referring to include Zaequan “Ziggy” Satterthwaite, a 6-foot-6 forward, Jalen Burkett, a 6-6 forward and Markus Golder, who is also 6-6.
“We kind of got what we wanted inside the paint,” said Symons, whose team outscored Blue Mountain 42-24 in the second half. “We only had two turnovers in the second half and that really led to some things on offense.”
In the East Region, Walla Walla leads with an 7-1 record, followed by NIC, Spokane and Big Bend, all three at 6-2. The top four from each region advance to the NWAC tournament starting on March 9 at Everett Community College.
The NIC women have a little bit of work to do, but can help themselves with a win at Yakima Valley this Saturday. NIC is 3-5 in conference. Yakima Valley is 4-3 and ahead of the Cardinals for fifth.
NIC has been bitten by the injury bug, with starting guard Shae Logazzo — who was injured early in the season opener — and Shanna Floerchinger now out for the season with torn ACLs.
The Cardinals kept pace in the East with a win at Blue Mountain last Saturday as three players scored in double figures.
“We’re starting to see a lot of double teams and starting to find some players on the outside,” NIC women’s basketball coach Chris Carlson said. “It’s starting to come together a little bit.”
IN CASE you’ve missed it, area wrestling teams have been making a little bit of noise in recent weeks with strong showings at the Rollie Lane Invitational, as well as the North Idaho Rumble, held at Coeur d’Alene High last weekend.
Post Falls won the event for the fourth straight year, with Lakeland second and host Coeur d’Alene third.
“We’re still a little banged up, but all the kids wrestled really well,” Lakeland coach Rob Edelblute said. “I’m really happy with their performance. We’ve talked all year about it taking the guys down below (in the consolation rounds) to win that state title. Everyone that is stepping on the mat is contributing and producing. And that’s what I like to see.”
“We’ve just been keeping them with their eyes on the prize and ready for the postseason,” Coeur d’Alene coach Jeff Moffat said. “The tournament was extremely competitive, and everything went smoothly. It was a good weekend of wrestling.”
And with only a few weeks left to fine tune things, it’s better to start now than later.
Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.