Cardinal women claim Lower Columbia title

| December 30, 2018 12:00 AM

- WOMEN

LONGVIEW, Wash. — Keara Simpson gave North Idaho College the lead for good on a layup with 30 seconds remaining as the Cardinals held off tournament host Lower Columbia College 50-47 in the championship game of the Lower Columbia Classic on Saturday at Myklebust Gymnasium.

Simpson, named the tournament’s MVP, had 15 points and six rebounds for NIC (10-2).

“We just hung on at the end,” NIC coach Chris Carlson said. “We came out really strong and played like champions and dominated the action in the first half. The second half was a bit of a struggle, but we just had to hang on. Keara hit some big shots at the end, Heidi did a great job on the boards and had a good day. But we just had to hang on.”

Halle Eborall had six points and five assists and Heidi Sellman eight rebounds and six points for NIC, which opens Northwest Athletic Conference play on Wednesday against Big Bend at Moses Lake starting at 5:30 p.m.

Lower Columbia is 8-7.

NORTH IDAHO

Zosha Krupa 0-1 0-0 0, Anna Schrade 4-8 0-0 9, Halle Eborall 3-11 0-0 6, Alex Carlton 0-3 0-0 0, Heidi Sellman 3-7 0-0 6, Sydnie Peterson 3-7 0-0 8, Alivia Williams 2-6 2-2 6, Madison Lommen 0-1 0-0 0, Keara Simpson 7-15 1-1 15. Totals 22-59 3-3 50.

LOWER COLUMBIA

Kenya Lorton 5-18 1-3 11, Madison Mosier 1-3 2-2 4, Shasta Lofgren 1-6 0-0 3, Emily Packham 3-6 0-0 7, Nizhoni Wheeler 6-13 5-7 18, Melenatie Kata 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 18-49 8-12 47.

North Idaho 17 13 7 13 — 50

Lower Columbia 8 11 13 15 — 47

3-point goals — NIC 3-13 (Krupa 0-1, Schrade 1-1, Carlton 0-2, Peterson 2-5, Williams 0-1, Lommen 0-1, Simpson 0-2), LCC 3-17 (Lorton 0-6, Mosier 0-1, Lofgren 1-3, Packham 1-2, Wheeler 1-5). Rebounds — NIC 31 (Sellman 8), LCC 38 (Lorton 11). Assists — NIC 15 (Eborall 5), LCC 9 (Lorton 5). Team fouls — NIC 14, LCC 8. Fouled out — none.

- MEN

North Idaho 102

Central Arizona 73

MESA, Ariz. — RayQuan Evans had 19 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals for the Cardinals in a win over the Vaqueros of Coolidge in the consolation championship game of the Fiesta Bowl Junior College Shootout at Heap Gym at Mesa Community College.

NIC — which finished the tournament 2-1 — outscored Central Arizona 65-33 in the second half.

Nate Pryor had 15 points and four assists, Alphonso Anderson 14 points and nine rebounds and Jarod Greene 10 points for NIC (11-2), which opens Northwest Athletic Conference play against Big Bend on Wednesday in Moses Lake.

Richard Polanco scored 20 points for Central Arizona (4-9).

NORTH IDAHO

RayQuan Evans 7-15 3-4 19, Nate Pryor 6-15 3-4 15, Phillip Malatare 2-8 2-2 6, Jarod Greene 5-7 0-0 10, Ismael Valdez 1-1 2-2 4, Emmitt Taylor III 3-8 0-0 8, Iaian McLaughlin 3-7 2-2 8, Alphonso Anderson 6-12 1-2 14, Yusuf Mohammed 4-7 0-0 8, James Carlson 0-3 2-2 2, Jaden Dewar 4-4 0-0 8, Drew Sheridan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 41-87 15-18 102.

CENTRAL ARIZONA

Cory Deveaux 3-8 2-3 8, JC Canahuate 2-12 5-6 10, Meekness Payne 6-15 3-4 16, Andrew Leonard 5-10 6-6 19, Richard Polanco 6-21 7-9 20, Lonyae Jones 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-69 23-28 73.

Halftime — CAC 40-37. 3-point goals — NIC 5-20 (Evans 2-5, Pryor 0-3, Malatare 0-1, Taylor III 2-6, McLaughlin 0-1, Anderson 1-2, Mohammed 0-2), CAC 6-34 (Deveaux 0-2, Canahuate 1-8, Payne 1-5, Leonard 3-6, Polanco 1-12, Jones 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 54 (Evans, Anderson 9), CAC 31 (Polanco 12). Assists — NIC 15 (Evans 5), CAC 10 (Canahuate 4). Team fouls — NIC 23, CAC 17. Fouled out — McLaughlin, Leonard. Technical fouls — Evans, McLaughlin, Polanco.