NIC ROUNDUP: Cardinals pass it around, knock off Legends in opener

• MEN'S BASKETBALL

COEUR d’ALENE — Freshman Julius Mims had 20 points and four rebounds for North Idaho College in a 87-71 win over the Lilac City Legends in the season opener for the Cardinals at Rolly Williams Court on Saturday.

“Julius is such a great athlete and can score at the rim and run the floor really well,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “He’s a big time player, and he’s got a lot ahead of him if he keeping playing the way he does.”

Taden King, a freshman from Madison High, had 14 points and six assists for NIC, which shot 34 of 63 for the game. NIC led 55-34 at halftime. NIC finished with 23 assists.

“The nice thing is we’re really young, and it was good to get some experience,” Symons said. “I liked the way we shared the ball tonight. We played good team basketball.”

Cooper DeWitt had 13 points, three assists and three steals for NIC, which travels to Central Arizona of Coolidge on Wednesday.

Dirk Snel scored 23 points for the Lilac City Legends, a semi-pro team based out of Spokane.

LILAC CITY LEGENDS

Dirk Snel 7-11 6-6 23, Ahbrae 3-8 0-0 9, AJ Ussery 1-1 2-2 4, Martin Herford 3-8 1-1 9, Dominique McClendon 6-14 6-6 21, Michael Bethely 0-1 0-0 0, Jeremiah Riggle 2-3 0-0 5, Morgan Hyslop 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 22-51 15-15 71.

NORTH IDAHO

Julius Mims 7-10 5-6 20, Daniel Santana 4-5 0-0 9, Cooper DeWitt 5-9 0-0 13, Taden King 6-11 0-0 14, Gavin Gilstrap 2-5 2-4 6, DeMari Grant 5-8 1-2 13, Brendan Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Jack Kiesbuy 1-3 0-0 2, Xavier Bailey 1-5 1-1 3, Jalen Skalskiy 3-4 1-2 7, Akeyse Rice 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-63 10-15 87.

Halftime — NIC 55-34. 3-point goals — LCL 12-30 (Snel 3-6, Harvey 3-6, Herford 2-3, McClendon 3-11, Bethely 0-1, Riggle 1-2, Hyslop 0-1), NIC 9-24 (Mims 1-2, Santana 1-1, DeWitt 3-6, King 2-6, Grant 2-3, Johnson 0-2, Kiesbuy 0-2, Bailey 0-2). Rebounds — LCL 31 (Harvey, Herford, McClendon 4), NIC 31 (Mims, Gilstrap). Assists — LCL 9 (Ussery, Herford 2), NIC 23 (King 6). Team fouls — LCL 13, NIC 14. Fouled out — Ussery.

• WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

North Idaho 68

Clark 56

PENDLETON, Ore. — Kaylee Banks, a freshman from Sandpoint High, had a game-high 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench for the Cardinals in a win over the Penguins in the Red Lion Classic at Blue Mountain Community College.

Freshman Xuryiah Harry had 13 points for NIC, which shot 26 of 56 for the game. The Cardinals turned the ball over 23 times.

“Kaylee came out attacking the basket hard and nobody was able to guard her tonight,” NIC coach Korina Baker said. “We worked the ball a lot better tonight, which created more openings from the outside, but did have too many turnovers.”

NIC (1-1) concludes the tournament today at 10 a.m. against Edmonds College of Lynnwood, Wash.

Haylie Johnson scored 14 points for Clark College of Vancouver, Wash.

NORTH IDAHO

Payton Hagy 4-10 1-2 11, Catherine Uschmann 2-3 0-0 5, Maggie Graves 3-5 1-1 7, Layla Beam 1-2 0-0 3, Kolby Pimperton 3-9 2-2 9, Laney Smith 0-3 0-0 0, Paige Beem 2-3 1-2 5, Kaylee Banks 6-14 0-0 15, Ashlynn Shanley 0-1 0-0 0, Mary Mpoyo 0-1 0-0 0, Xuriyah Harry 5-5 3-5 13. Totals 26-56 8-12 68.

CLARK COLLEGE

Haylie Johnson 5-8 0-0 14, Maggie Spencer 4-10 1-2 11, Chloe Wright 2-7 0-0 4, Neriah Efferson 5-14 0-0 13, Alexa Smith 3-8 0-0 7, Chyna Finley 0-3 0-0 0, Skye Landaz-Chapman 1-4 0-0 2, Madison Anderson 2-4 1-2 5, Hannah Clouse 0-4 0-0 0, Lexie Crabtree 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-62 2-4 56.

North Idaho 17 15 15 21 — 68

Clark 18 7 13 18 — 56

3-point goals — NIC 8-22 (Hagy 2-6, Uschmann 1-2, Beam 1-2, Pimperton 1-3, Smith 0-3, Banks 3-6), CC 10-27 (Johnson 4-7, Spencer 2-6, Efferson 3-6, Smith 1-4, Finley 0-1, Landaz-Chapman 0-1, Clouse 0-2). Rebounds — NIC 33 (Banks 9), CC 25 (Efferson, Anderson 5). Assists — NIC 13 (Pimperton 4), CC 11 (five with 2). Team fouls — NIC 8, CC 14. Fouled out — none.