Cardinals get practice in scramble mode
You might have thought the challenges of traveling within the conference were past the North Idaho College men’s and women’s basketball teams after moving to the more regional-friendly Northwest Athletic Conference from the far-flung Scenic West Athletic Conference.
Saturday night might have been the first instance of pushing their luck when it comes to travel.
WITH A price break on flights to Boise, the teams took advantage of the ability to fly to Saturday’s game at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario, Ore., renting vans to make the hour-long trip from the airport to the school.
Everything went according to plan, with the final buzzer for the men’s game going off at 6:30 p.m.
The returning flight took off from Boise at 7:50 that night. The airport was 56 miles away.
“Literally, the horn went off and I told the guys to get to the cars,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “They didn’t even have a chance to take off their uniforms after the game. They flew home with their jerseys on.”
Getting everyone to the airport was a complete team effort.
“We had three guys helping (NIC play-by-play announcer) Dick (Haugen) wrap up cords after the game to get him out of there,” Symons said. “Thankfully, we got back to Boise in time but it was really close.”
If nothing else, that excitement helped prepare them for a tough stretch in conference play. NIC visited Big Bend of Moses Lake on Monday, hosts Walla Walla tonight and caps the week with a rivalry matchup against the visiting Community Colleges of Spokane on Saturday afternoon.
“I don’t mind it that much,” said Symons of the conference schedule. “This way, you don’t have a lot of time to prepare for games. We’ll be going at it each day this week and will have to practice Sunday for the game on Monday. But there’s a lot of real quick turnarounds.”
NIC visits Wenatchee Valley next Wednesday before concluding the first half of conference play by hosting Blue Mountain on Jan. 27.
JUST A month from now, championships and other trophies will be handed out at the state basketball tournaments in the Boise area.
Teams will qualify much the same way as last year, with the 5A Region 1 champion advancing to the Ford Idaho Center, while the runner-up from regionals will have to play its way into the tournament.
Area 4A and 2A and 1A Division II teams only get the district champion again, with the 3A schools up north advancing two teams to state this year.
It could be smooth sailing for a few teams with title aspirations, or you never know, someone could sneak up late and find a way into the tournament.
Regardless, it should be a fun ride to the finish line.
No need to hurry, it will get here soon enough.
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 @JECdAPress.