Familiar, for the most part

There are a few things that sophomores have over freshmen at the junior college level.

For starters, a familiarity with how the college game works, from longer quarters to a shot clock in some cases that some athletes don’t have at the high school level.

North Idaho College returns five players — three that started full-time and others in a part-time fashion — in coach Chris Carlson’s 16th season with the program.

“Just the experience you get with having that many back, it doesn’t come around a lot,” Carlson said. “Those girls won 20 games last year and they understand the effort that it takes to win games. And that will be a real positive going forward.”

Halle Eborall, a 5-foot-7 guard from Lake City, as well as 6-0 forward Keara Simpson — another Lake City product — return, as does 5-6 point guard Alex Carlton. Sydnie Peterson, a 5-7 guard and Anna Schrade, a 5-11 forward, also return after being part-time starters as freshmen.

“There’s a familiarity with the game for those kids now,” said Carlson, whose team advanced to the Northwest Athletic Conference tournament last season after a 20-9 season and fourth-place finish in the East Region. “I’m proud of what they did last year, and to make it to the championships and win some big games along the way was big. We knocked off (NWAC champion) Wenatchee Valley at home, and to play that level of basketball early on was great to see. There’s a lot of familiarity back. As a freshmen, there’s so many things you’ve got to get used to — new school, new team and new coaches — but there’s no substitution for experience.”

Brooke Stevens, a 5-6 guard from Clark Fork, Cheyenne Green, a 5-10 forward from Wasilla, Alaska, and Lewiston High product Demi Randall — who played on the NIC women’s soccer team — are among those freshmen that could see time early on.

“Brooke came in great shape and plays hard,” Carlson said. “She’s a tough athlete and has made an impression from her first day of workouts. Both Cheyenne and Rilee Mangun (a 5-9 forward from Florence, Mont.) have both shown they’re game-ready, very competitive and skilled.”

Randall transferred from Division II Saint Martin’s after one semester.

“Demi was a good player at Lewiston,” Carlson said. “It just wasn’t a good fit for her at Saint Martin’s, and is starting fresh this year.”

NIC will be tested — quite often — early on, with games against NJCAA foes Utah State-Eastern (Nov. 22) and College of Southern Idaho (Nov. 23) in Twin Falls, then again in Las Vegas Dec. 19-21 when they face USU-Eastern (Dec. 19), Salt Lake (Dec. 20) and CSI (Dec. 21).

“We’ve got to come in and have a great preseason,” Carlson said. “These girls work really hard. We’ve been on the road to face Central Washington and Lewis-Clark State in exhibitions, and we’ve showed signs of playing good basketball. The next step includes playing those national junior colleges, getting on the floor with them and figuring out what it takes to win tough games.”

NIC opens its season at home on Saturday against the North Idaho All-Stars at 2 p.m.

Over the holidays, NIC will host Lethbridge (Alberta) College, coached by Coeur d’Alene High and NIC product Deanna (Dotts) Simpson on Dec. 27 at 5:30 p.m.

“We’re hoping to build some momentum going into league (which starts Jan. 2 vs. Big Bend at home),” Carlson said. “We’re really looking forward to seeing some of those former rivals and faces in the coming weeks.”

The top four teams from each region advance to the NWAC Championships March 5-8 (first and second round) and 14-15 (semifinals, finals) at Everett Community College.