Rare rest gets Cardinal men back on track

A night off in the middle of season wound up being a great thing for the North Idaho College men’s basketball team last week.

And who knows, maybe seeing some top-notch talent two weeks before the 4A Region 1 wrestling tournament could pay off for Lakeland High.

AFTER PLAYING a makeup game Jan. 30, the North Idaho College men’s basketball team — when most of its region counterparts were on the court — took advantage of a Wednesday night off to fine tune some things at home.

And they got back to playing Cardinal basketball.

Last year, with a handful of Division I talent in the NJCAA, the Cardinals went on a 31-2 run that saw them advance to the national tournament for the first time since 1997.

Now in the Northwest Athletic Conference, the Cardinals are 19-3, 7-2 in the East Region of the NWAC.

“We’re playing a lot better on defense right now,” said NIC men’s basketball coach Corey Symons, whose team allowed 99.5 points per game in its two conference losses.

NIC beat Yakima Valley 98-70 on Saturday to remain in the top four in the region with six games remaining.

“Games like this, when we put things together on both ends of the court making shots and playing good defense, we’re tough to beat,” Symons said. “We had a really long week of practice and getting after it. We’ve been working hard at getting them to play for each other and getting back to playing Cardinal basketball.”

INJURIES HAPPEN during the course of a long season, sometimes when you least expect it.

As some wrestling coaches looked on as some of the top athletes in the state squared off at Meridian High last weekend as part of the All-Star Classic, coaches just hoped nothing bad was going to happen to halt a run toward a state title.

“There’s been many sleepless nights before any dual or tournament as we wind down the season,” Lakeland coach Rob Edelblute said. “You’d hate to see anyone have a season-ending injury.”

Fortunately for Lakeland, all four of those competing on the weekend made it through healthy and ready to go as the schools compete in duals before regionals next weekend.

“Injuries are always in the back of our minds,” Edelblute said. “Especially when they go up against some of the top kids in the state knowing they’ve got to turn it up a notch.”

WHEN THINKING about who the next player with ties to Seattle inducted into a Hall of Fame, the name Kenny Easley didn’t come up right away.

Maybe it was because his career was cut short to seven years due to kidney disease, or because I was only a kid when he played.

Easley was selected to five Pro Bowls was a four-time All-Pro, helping the Seahawks advance to the playoffs four times.

Easley was also a key member of the team when they advanced to the AFC Championship in 1984, losing to the Miami Dolphins.

Easley was the “Boom” in the secondary long before this current group created their “Legion.”

And who knows, maybe next year another Seattle legend might get his call to Cooperstown after coming close this year.

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.