Cardinal women knock off first-place Wenatchee Valley
LOREN BENOIT/Press North Idaho College’s Keara Simpson shoots while defended by Ashlynn Burgess of Wenatchee Valley College on Wednesday night at NIC.
Anna Schrade of North Idaho College scores on a layup against Wenatchee Valley College Wednesday night at NIC. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Zosha Krupa of North Idaho College dribbles the ball while defended by Ashlie Watts of Wenatchee Valley College during Wednesday night’s game at NIC. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Alex Carlton shoots a two in a game against Wenatchee Valley College Wednesday night at NIC. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Sydnie Peterson of North Idaho College looks to pass the ball to a teammate while defended by Chasity Spady of Wenatchee Valley College during Wednesday night’s game at NIC. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Lady Cards (from left) Zosha Krupa, Halle Eborall, Madison Lommen and Anna Schrade celebrate a three-pointer in the final minutes of Wednesday night’s game against Wenatchee Valley College. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
- WOMEN
COEUR d’ALENE — Alex Carlton and Keara Simpson led the way as North Idaho College knocked off East Region-leading Wenatchee Valley College 73-68 in Northwest Athletic Conference women’s basketball Wednesday night at Rolly Williams Court.
Carlton hit 5 of 9 3-pointers and scored 21 points for NIC (17-6, 7-4 NWAC), who is in third place in the East Region, one-half game ahead of Walla Walla. Simpson, the former Lake City High standout, added 13 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.
The top four teams in the East Region qualify for the NWAC tournament.
“This win was huge,” NIC coach Chris Carlson said. “To knock off the No. 1 team in the East Region is a big win. I thought we had a good defensive game plan.”
Wenatchee Valley (20-4, 9-2), which made 7 of 8 3-pointers in beating NIC 78-69 at home on Jan. 16, made just 2 of 16 on Wednesday night.
“Today we got out on their shooters,” Carlson said. “(Ashlynn) Burgess is going to get hers (she finished with 25 points and 12 boards), but overall, our team defense was outstanding.”
NIC plays host to last-place Blue Mountain on Saturday, then travels to Walla Walla in a makeup game Monday.
WENATCHEE VALLEY
Kiara Steen 5-9 0-0 11, Riley Denton 1-3 0-0 2, Cariann Kunkel 5-7 2-3 12, Ashley Peralta 0-4 2-2 2, Ashlynn Burgess 11-19 3-3 25, Chasity Spady 5-11 1-1 11, Ashlie Watts 1-3 0-0 3, Lara Creighton 0-0 0-0 0, Rachel Odima 1-4 0-0 2, Amelia Houser 0-0 0-0 0, Kalea Bokma 0-0 0-0 0, Adair Henning 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-60 8-9 68.
NORTH IDAHO
Sydnie Peterson 3-11 1-6 8, Alivia Williams 4-15 4-6 13, Alex Carlton 6-13 4-4 21, Keara Simpson 6-10 0-0 13, Heidi Sellman 4-10 3-3 11, Zosha Krupa 0-0 0-0 0, Anna Schrade 3-3 1-2 7, Halle Eborall 0-0 0-0 0, Madison Lommen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-62 13-21 73.
Wenatchee Valley 12 13 17 26 — 68
North Idaho 17 20 16 20 — 73
3-point goals — WVC 2-16 (Steen 1-1, Denton 0-2, Peralta 0-3, Burgess 0-5, Spady 0-2, Watts 1-3, Odima 1-4; NIC 8-22 (Peterson 1-6, Williams 1-4, Carlton 5-9, Simpson 1-2, Sellman 0-1). Rebounds — WVC 35 (Burgess 12), NIC 39 (Simpson 13). Assists — WVC 1 (Spady 1), NIC 9 (Simpson 5). Technical fouls — WVC team. Fouled out — Steen, Watts. Total fouls — WVC 16, NIC 13.
- MEN
North Idaho 114
Wenatchee Valley 84
COEUR d’ALENE — Alphonso Anderson led a balanced attack with 21 points as the first-place Cardinals (22-2, 11-0 NWAC) rolled past the Knights (12-10, 4-7) in East Region play at Rolly Williams Court.
Nate Pryor, the reigning NWAC Player of the Week, added 17 points and seven assists for NIC, and RayQuan Evans and Emmitt Taylor III each also scored 17.
NIC plays host to Blue Mountain on Saturday and visits Walla Walla in a makeup game Monday.
WENATCHEE VALLEY
Steele Hadlock 9-14 0-0 26, Reece Wallace 1-7 0-0 3, Malik Parsons 10-13 7-10 28, Jeromy Hughes 4-9 2-3 12, Nick Hopkins 3-4 3-4 9, Amari McLemore 0-0 0-0 0, Donny Watson 0-2 1-1 1, Leon Mugo 0-0 0-0 0, Caden Stevenson 0-0 0-0 0, Johnny Mullen 1-3 1-2 3, Jeremiah Wiley 1-2 0-0 2, Colin Goff 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-54 14-20 84.
NORTH IDAHO
RayQuan Evans 7-9 2-2 17, Nate Pryor 6-12 4-5 17, Phillip Malatare 6-12 1-2 15, Alphonso Anderson 8-13 2-2 21, Jarod Greene 3-8 0-0 6, Emmitt Taylor III 6-8 2-2 17, Iaian McLaughlin 2-4 0-0 6, Yusuf Mohamed 2-3 1-2 5, James Carlson 1-1 1-1 3, Jaden Dewar 0-1 0-0 0, Ismael Valdez 0-0 2-2 2, Drew Sheridan 2-2 1-1 5.
Halftime — NIC 54-37. 3-point goals — WVC 12-30 (Hadlock 8-13, Wallace 1-7, Parsons 1-3, Hughes 2-3, Hopkins 0-1, Watson 0-1, Mullen 0-1, Wiley 0-1), NIC 12-23 (Evans 1-2, Pryor 1-1, Malatare 2-4, Anderson 3-7, Taylor 3-5, McLaughlin 2-4). Rebounds — WVC 23 (Parsons 6), NIC 36 (Anderson 7). Assists — WVC 8 (Parsons, Hopkins 3), NIC 16 (Pryor 7). Fouled out — none. Total fouls — WVC 19, NIC 18.