Cardinals drive into title game
TRACY SWISHER/Northwest Athletic Conference Nate Pryor (1) of North Idaho College drives to the basket against Lezjon Bonds (3) of Lane Community College in a semifinal game of the Northwest Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament Saturday in Everett, Wash.
TRACY SWISHER/Northwest Athletic Conference RayQuan Evans (0) of North Idaho College heads upcourt after a turnover vs. Lane on Saturday in Everett, Wash.
EVERETT, Wash. — Freshman Emmitt Taylor III trusts his teammates at North Idaho College.
And his teammates, when it matters, trust him.
With Saturday’s game still in flux, it was the freshman who delivered when his team needed it again.
Taylor hit a 3-pointer with 1:01 left to push the advantage to five points, and NIC rallied past Lane Community College of Eugene, Ore., 85-78 in a semifinal game in the Northwest Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday at Everett Community College.
NIC (30-2) — winners of 21 straight games — will go for its second consecutive NWAC title today against Walla Walla (22-10) at 4:45 p.m.
Walla Walla won the 2017 title.
Taylor finished 3 for 8 shooting, 2 for 6 from the 3-point line.
“I’ve had games like this before where I wasn’t shooting the ball that well,” said Taylor III, of Lapwai, in a postgame interview on nwacsports.org. “My teammates trusted me, and I’ve got trust in them. I just have to have confidence in myself that I’ll hit the shot when I need to.”
Nate Pryor, who has committed to Washington, added 27 points and 11 rebounds for NIC. RayQuan Evans, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after NIC’s title in 2018, finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds.
NIC, which leads the conference in scoring at 104.5 points per game, held Lane — ranked second at 98.5 points per game — to 78 points.
Lane led 41-40 at halftime — the first time NIC trailed at intermission in 2019. Lane built its lead to 53-46 with just under 17 minutes left. NIC took the lead for good at 72-70 on a layup by Pryor with 7:22 left.
Trailing 78-76, Lane missed a pair of shots — including a layup try blocked by Alphonso Anderson, a Utah State signee, which led to Taylor’s dagger 3.
“All week we’ve been scouting Lane and knew what they were going to do,” Evans said. “We knew they were going to fight. They’re the No. 2 team in scoring and put up a battle. We haven’t seen a team that’s as physical as they were, but we were prepared for it and it worked out great.”
“Lane really led the entire game, then Nate and RayQuan got going and started getting to the rim,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “Emmitt hit a big shot for us from the corner and we didn’t look back from there.”
NIC outrebounded Lane 45-31, led by Evans with 15.
“The refs just let us play,” Symons said. “Their wasn’t a ton of free throws. Lane has some guards that are good off the bounce. We just did a better job of keeping the ball in front of us and hit some shots in the second half.”
NIC beat Walla Walla in both East Region matchups this season, winning 101-76 on Jan. 12 at Rolly Williams Court in Coeur d’Alene, then 100-69 on Feb. 18 in Walla Walla.
“We just want to go 1-0 tomorrow,” Evans said. “We just want to bring one more back. If we can do that, it would be great.”
Tarik Cool had 24 points and seven assists for Lane, which finished finished 27-4.
NORTH IDAHO
RayQuan Evans 6-14 6-7 18, Nate Pryor 13-22 1-4 27, Phillip Malatare 1-3 0-0 3, Alphonso Anderson 4-12 0-0 8, Jarod Greene 3-5 0-0 6, Emmitt Taylor III 3-8 0-0 8, Iaian McLaughlin 0-0 0-0 0, Yusuf Mohammed 4-6 0-0 9, James Carlson 2-5 0-0 4, Ismael Valdez 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 37-76 7-13 85.
LANE
Lucas Wilson 5-15 2-2 12, Lezjon Bonds 7-13 2-2 21, Rodney Hounshell 5-9 0-0 13, Tarik Cool 10-20 1-1 24, Cody Mathis 4-7 0-0 8, Josh Erickson 0-0 0-0 0, Tashon Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Will Graves 0-3 0-0 0, Gabe Sorber 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-68 5-5 78.
Halftime — Lane 41-40. 3-point goals — NIC 4-16 (Evans 0-4, Pryor 0-1, Malatare 1-1, Anderson 0-2, Taylor III 2-6, Mohammed 1-2), Lane 11-38 (Wilson 0-6, Bonds 5-10, Hounshell 3-6, Cool 3-11, Mathis 0-1, Graves 0-3, Sorber 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 45 (Evans 15), Lane 31 (Wilson 9). Assists — NIC 21 (Pryor 11), Lane 15 (Cool 7). Team fouls — NIC 11, Lane 14. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — Mohammed.
NWAC BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Everett Community College
MEN
Saturday, March 16
Semifinals
North Idaho 85, Lane 78
Walla Walla 76, Spokane 65
Sunday, March 17
Championship
North Idaho (30-2) vs. Walla Walla (22-10), 4:45 p.m.
WOMEN
Saturday, March 16
Semifinals
Umpqua 80, Big Bend 73
Wenatchee Valley 84, Lane 81
Sunday, March 17
Championship
Umpqua (28-4) vs. Wenatchee Valley (27-5), 2 p.m.