Cardinal men fall to Mesa CC
- MEN’S BASKETBALL
MESA, Ariz. — RayQuan Evans hit a jumper to give North Idaho College the lead with 32 seconds remaining, but Mesa answered with seven seconds remaining as Kyle Fischer hit a go-ahead basket to push the Thunderbirds past the Cardinals 69-68 in an opening round game in the Fiesta Bowl Junior College Shootout on Thursday at Mesa Community College.
Nate Pryor had 19 points and five assists for NIC (9-2), which outrebounded Mesa 39-25.
Evans had 17 points and eight rebounds for NIC, which faces Snow today at 3 p.m. in Mesa. Snow fell to Seward County 76-71 in Thursday’s late game. It is the first game between the former Region 18 rivals since NIC beat Snow 74-70 in November of 2016 in Portland.
Rajhan Billingsley scored 23 points for Mesa (7-4).
NORTH IDAHO
RayQuan Evans 6-15 5-6 17, Nate Pryor 8-22 3-6 19, Emmitt Taylor III 2-8 0-0 5, Iain McLaughlin 2-2 0-0 5, Jarod Greene 3-3 0-0 6, Philip Malatare 3-5 0-0 7, Alphonso Anderson 0-4 0-0 0, Yusuf Mohammed 1-1 0-0 3, James Carlson 1-2 0-0 2, Ismael Valdez 1-1 2-4 4, Drew Sheridan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-63 10-16 68.
MESA
Rajhan Billingsley 8-16 3-3 23, Jeff Perez 4-7 1-2 11, Elijah Moore 3-10 0-0 7, Nik Nehls 3-10 2-2 9, Cam Burist 1-4 2-2 4, Kris Coe 0-0 0-0 0, Carlos Saucedo 0-0 0-0 0, Jok Jok 3-7 0-0 6, Kyle Fischer 3-6 0-0 7, Isais Pineda 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 26-62 8-9 69.
Halftime — Mesa 35-28. 3-point goals — NIC 4-24 (Evans 0-5, Pryor 0-6, Taylor III 1-7, McLaughlin 1-1, Malatare 1-2, Anderson 0-1, Mohammed 1-1, Carlson 0-1), Mesa 9-26 (Billingsley 4-8, Perez 2-4, Moore 1-5, Nehls 1-5, Burist 0-2, Jok 0-1, Fischer 1-1). Rebounds — NIC 39 (Evans 8), Mesa 25 (Fischer 6). Assists — NIC 12 (Pryor 5), Mesa 17 (Moore 4). Team fouls — NIC 14, Mesa 21. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — Carlson, Nehls.
- WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
North Idaho 64
Centralia 53
LONGVIEW, Wash. — Heidi Sellman had 17 points and four assists for the Cardinals in a win over the Blazers in the opening round of the Lower Columbia Holiday Classic at Myklebust Gym.
Keara Simpson had 11 points and 10 rebounds for NIC (8-2), which faces Yakima Valley in a semifinal game today at 4 p.m.
“I thought our inside people was an advantage,” NIC coach Chris Carlson said. “I thought Heidi got loose and was able to get going. Keara did a good job, and Anna (Schrade, who finished with 11 rebounds) was good today. It was ugly, but we kind of willed one out.”
Piper Cai scored 19 points for Centralia (5-7).
NORTH IDAHO
Zosha Krupa 1-5 0-0 3, Anna Schrade 2-8 2-2 7, Halle Eborall 1-5 1-1 3, Alex Carlton 3-6 0-0 8, Heidi Sellman 6-10 5-5 17, Sydnie Peterson 2-6 2-2 6, Alivia Williams 4-8 1-2 9, Keara Simpson 5-12 1-2 11. Totals 24-60 12-14 64.
CENTRALIA
Piper Cai 6-14 5-8 19, Caitlin Yenne 2-15 0-2 5, Jamie Connally 4-9 0-0 9, Isabella Elwood 3-6 0-0 6, Lindsey Nurmi 3-13 4-6 11, Allani Talapu 1-2 0-0 3, Rachel Wilkerson 0-0 0-2 0, Becca Snaza 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-60 9-18 53.
North Idaho 21 11 13 19 — 64
Centralia 16 11 10 16 — 53
3-point goals — NIC 4-13 (Krupa 1-3, Schrade 1-1, Carlton 2-5, Peterson 0-3, Simpson 0-1), Cent 6-23 (Cai 2-5, Yenne 1-7, Connally 1-2, Elwood 0-1, Nurmi 1-6, Talapu 1-1, Snaza 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 39 (Schrade 11), Cent 37 (Yenne 10). Assists — NIC 16 (Sellman 4), Cent 11 (Cai, Yenne 3). Team fouls — NIC 15, Cent 15. Fouled out — Eborall.