Cardinal men clinch share of East Region title

| February 18, 2019 11:46 PM

MEN

WALLA WALLA, Wash. — RayQuan Evans had 24 points, six steals and four assists, and North Idaho scored in triple digits for the fourth straight game, routing Walla Walla 100-69 on Monday to clinch a share of the Northwest Athletic Conference East Region title.

The Cardinals (23-2, 12-0 NWAC) struggled for much of the first half, shooting only 41.7 percent from the floor, and the Warriors (16-9, 10-2) tied the game at 25 on Forrest Smith’s 3-pointer with seven minutes left before halftime.

Alphonso Anderson responded with a jumper for NIC, and the Cardinals closed out the first half on a 15-4 run to lead 40-29 at intermission. They led by double figures the rest of the way, scoring 60 second-half points.

NIC out-rebounded Walla Walla 48 to 34, and held the Warriors to 27.1 percent shooting (13-for-48) from 3-point range.

Anderson (10 points, eight rebounds) and James Carlson (14 points, five rebounds) gave NIC a boost off the bench, while Phillip Malatare had a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Cardinals, who host Community Colleges of Spokane at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Damen Thacker led Walla Walla with 16 points.

NORTH IDAHO 100, WALLA WALLA 69

NORTH IDAHO (23-2, 12-0 NWAC)

RayQuan Evans 7-15 8-9 24, Nate Pryor 6-12 0-0 12, Phillip Malatare 8-13 0-0 16, Iaian McLaughlin 2-6 2-2 6, Jarod Greene 4-6 2-4 10, Emmitt Taylor 2-4 0-0 6, Alphonso Anderson 2-11 6-7 10, James Carlson 5-6 4-4 14, Jaden Dewar 1-1 0-0 2, Ismael Valdez 0-0 0-0 0, Drew Sheridan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-74 22-26 100.

WALLA WALLA (16-9, 10-2)

Damen Thacker 5-17 4-4 16, Forrest Smith 3-10 0-0 8, Jared Anderson 2-4 0-1 5, David Howard 4-12 2-3 14, Jake Albright 0-5 4-4 4, Keeshawn Clarke 2-3 0-0 4, Leonel Gallegos 1-2 0-0 3, Jackson Clark 1-1 0-0 3, Jake Costello 0-1 0-0 0, Wyatt Hardin 2-2 0-4 4, Dillon Young 1-6 0-0 2, Kyler Villarreal 2-4 0-0 6, Patrick Chmelik 0-0 0-0 0.

Halftime: NIC 40-29. 3-point goals: NIC 4-11 (Taylor 2-3, Evans 2-4, Pryor 0-1, McLaughlin 0-1, Anderson 0-2), WW 13-48 (Howard 4-12, Villarreal 2-3, Smith 2-7, Thacker 2-13, Clark 1-1, Gallegos 1-2, Anderson 1-3, Costello 0-1, Albright 0-2, Young 0-4). Rebounds: NIC 48 (Malatare 13), WW 34 (Albright 7). Assists: NIC 9 (Evans 4), WW 10 (Albright 4). Steals: NIC 10 (Evans 6), WW 4 (Smith 2). Totals fouls: NIC 16, WW 18. Fouled out: None. A: 200.

WOMEN

Walla Walla 59

North Idaho 56

WALLA WALLA — Two teams with nearly identical records played a closely-contested Northwest Athletic Conference game Monday afternoon, with the host Warriors doing just enough to withstand a late Cardinal rally.

After an evenly-played first half ended tied at 25, Walla Walla (18-8 overall, 8-5 NWAC) opened a 50-41 lead with 7:46 remaining on a layup from McKenzie Gunter (26 points).

The Cardinals (18-7, 8-5) cut the lead to one point on two occasions, the second time on Alivia Williams’ layup with 57 seconds left that made the score 57-56.

Neither team hit a basket the rest of the way, with Kate Renfro’s two free throws putting Walla Walla ahead by three points with five seconds remaining. A buzzer-beating 3-point attempt by NIC’s Alex Carlton was off the mark.

Lake City High product Keara Simpson led four Cardinals in double figures, scoring 14 points while grabbing six rebounds. Carlton had 13 points, including a 2-for-3 effort from outside the arc, and six steals for NIC, while Heidi Sellman added 12 points.

Williams scored 11 points for the Cardinals, who host Community Colleges of Spokane at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in Christianson Gymnasium.

WALLA WALLA 59, NORTH IDAHO 56

NORTH IDAHO (18-7, 8-5 NWAC)

Sydnie Peterson 0-3 0-0 0, Alivia Williams 5-12 1-4 11, Alex Carlton 4-7 3-4 13, Keara Simpson 4-15 6-6 14, Heidi Sellman 5-11 2-3 12, Zosha Krupa 1-3 1-2 4, Anna Schrade 0-3 0-0 0, Halle Eberall 1-3 0-2 2, Madison Lommen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-57 13-21 56.

WALLA WALLA (18-8, 8-5 NWAC)

Holly Golenor 1-5 1-2 3, Sailor Liefke 4-12 6-7 15, Jessica Cheney 1-10 0-0 2, McKenzie Gunter 10-16 5-6 26, Kaileigh Dietrich-Denton 2-5 0-1 4, Lexee Robertson 2-4 0-0 4, Kate Renfro 0-4 4-4 4, Malorie Wilwand 0-0 0-0 0, Bailey Stoddard 0-0 1-2 1, Tori Craner 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-57 17-22 59.

North Idaho 12 13 14 17 — 56

Walla Walla 14 11 17 17 — 59

3-point goals: NIC 3-10 (Carlton 2-3, Krupa 1-2, Simpson 0-1, Sellman 0-1, Williams 0-3), WW 2-10 (Gunter 1-1, Liefke 1-3, Renfro 0-2, Cheney 0-4). Rebounds: NIC 33 (Simpson, Schrade, Eborall 6), WW 35 (Cheney 9). Assists: NIC 1 (Peterson 1), WW 3 (three with 1). Steals: NIC 10 (Carlton 6), WW 5 (Cheney 2). Total fouls: NIC 21, WW 22. Fouled out: Simpson, Liefke. A: 100.