NIC BASKETBALL: Cardinal men fall to first-place Wenatchee Valley

| February 22, 2022 1:05 AM

MEN

COEUR d’ALENE — Sam Wenkheimer’s 3-pointer with 54 seconds broke a 75-all tie and gave Wenatchee Valley the lead for good, and the East Region-leading Knights held off the North Idaho College Cardinals 82-80 in Northwest Athletic Conference men’s basketball Monday night at Rolly Williams Court.

Anthony Roy hit 7 of 11 3-pointers and scored 34 points for Wenatchee Valley (12-12, 11-0 NWAC), which led by 10 points in the first half before NIC (15-7, 9-2) battled back to lead 39-34 at intermission.

Daniel Santana had 28 points, six rebounds, eight assists and four steals for NIC. Xavier Bailey added 17 off the bench, and Julius Mims had 14.

NIC plays host to Community Colleges of Spokane on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

WENATCHEE VALLEY

Isaac Brown 2-8 3-4 9, Nian Allen 5-11, 0-1, 10, Anthony Roy 9-17 9-9 34, Isaac Jones 5-7 7-9 17, Sam Wenkheimer 3-9 0-0 9, Bryson Faison 1-4 0-0 3, Sam Phillips 0-0 0-0 0, Amari George 0-0 0-0 0, Joseph Elliot 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-56 19-23 82.

NORTH IDAHO

Julius Mims 7-10 0-0 14, Daniel Santana 10-17 8-10 28, Cooper DeWitt 2-4 0-0 4, Taden King 0-6 2-2, 2, Jalen Skalskiy 4-8, 3-4 11, Aaron Von Bruck 0-0 0-0 0, Brendan Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Jack Kiesbuy 0-1 0-0 0, Trae Hugs 0-0 0-0 0, Xavier Bailey 6-10, 2-5 17, Gavin Gilstrap 2-2 0-2 4. Totals 31-60 15-23 80.

Halftime — NIC 39-34. 3-point goals — WVC 13-31 (Brown 2-6, Allen 0-2, Roy 7-11, Wenkheimer 3-8, Faison 1-4), NIC 3-15 (Mims 0-2, Santana 0-2, DeWitt 0-1, King 0-2, Skalskiy 0-2, Johnson 0-1, Kiesbuy 0-1, Bailey 3-4). Rebounds — WVC 32 (Jones 11), NIC 29 (Santana, Skalskiy 6). Assists — WVC 9 (Allen 5), NIC 13 (Santana 8). Fouled out — Jones, Mims. Total fouls — WVC 16, NIC 17.

WOMEN

Wen. Valley 73

North Idaho 57

COEUR d’ALENE — Katie Fleming, the former Post Falls High standout, totaled 10 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as the visiting Knights outscored the Cardinals 43-23 in the second half of the NWAC clash at Rolly Williams Court.

"We had a good game plan, and we executed it well in the first half," NIC coach Korina Baker said. "In the second half we did some selfish play and it didn’t work. In the first half we were attacking the basket, hitting open shots ... second half we lost sight of our men. We tried our own thing and it didn't work."

Loy Waid hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 24 points for Wenatchee Valley (14-8, 7-4). Payton Hagy scored 22 for NIC (11-8, 6-5).

"Payton played great; can't complain about her play," Baker said. "I think everybody else got complacent and waited for her to do her thing."

Mary Mpoyo added 15 points off the bench for the Cardinals, who shot 31.8% from the field (21 of 66).

NIC plays host to Community Colleges of Spokane on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

WENATCHEE VALLEY

Maddie Godwin 5-10 1-1 13, Ruby Murdoch 1-7 2-2 4, Loy Waid 10-17 0-0 24, Monica Miller 4-8 5-6 13, Katie Fleming 4-13 1-2 10, Alyssa Barnufsky 2-7, 4-4 9. Totals 26-62 13-15 73.

NORTH IDAHO

Payton Hagy 7-13 2-2 22, Laney Smith 0-5 0-0 0, Maggie Graves 1-5 0-0 2, Layla Beam 0-1 1-2 1, Kolby Pimperton 4-19 2-4, 13, Catherine Uschmann 1-2 0-0 2, Kaylee Banks 0-3 0-0 0, Ashlynn Shanley 0-1 0-0 0, Mary Mpoyo 7-12 0-0 15, Xuriyah Harry 1-5 0-0 2.

Wen. Valley x x 24 19 — 73

N. Idaho x x 15 8 — 57

3-point goals — WVC 8-15 (Godwin 2-3, Murdoch 0-1, Waid 4-4, Miller 0-1, Fleming 1-3, Barnufsky 1-3), NIC 10-32 (Hagy 6-9, Smith 0-5, Pimperton 3-12, Uschmann 0-1, Banks 0-2, Shanley 0-1, Mpoyo 1-2). Rebounds — WVC 43 (Fleming 9), NIC 35 (Smith 6). Assists — WVC 14 (Fleming 7), NIC 10 (Pimperton 3). Fouled out — none. Total fouls — WVC 14, NIC 13.