NIC ROUNDUP: Beaton, Hartwig push Cardinals into NWAC title match
Photo courtesy of NIC ATHLETICS North Idaho College sophomore Rylee Hartwig goes up for a kill during Saturday's Northwest Athletic Conference Championship semifinal match against Yakima Valley at Pierce College in Lakewood, Wash.
• VOLLEYBALL
LAKEWOOD, Wash. — When push came to shove on Saturday, sophomores Abigail Beaton and Rylee Hartwig pushed back for North Idaho College.
Beaton, named the East Region Most Valuable Player on Wednesday, had 15 kills and four digs for the Cardinals, who advanced to the Northwest Athletic Conference Championship match with a 25-18, 24-26, 25-15, 25-17 win over Yakima Valley on Saturday at Pierce College.
Hartwig, from Post Falls, had 10 kills and two digs, including the final kill of the match for NIC (32-1).
“Both Abby and Rylee have pushed each other all season,” first-year NIC coach Brittany Tilleman said. “They’ve really elevated each other’s level of play. When one is out of rotation, the other is communicating with them. In practice, they know what the other wants to do and they’ve got to get smart as hitters and know where to place balls. As long as we’re in system, we can find them and score.”
NIC will face Linn-Benton (35-0) in today’s championship match at 3 p.m.
“We’ve got to leave it out there,” Tilleman said. “We’ve still got to be us and can’t change that depending on who we’re playing. We’ve got to be ready to go. It’s going to come down to being NIC and having fun with it.”
Omayra Valley, a sophomore from Puerto Rico, had 19 digs and freshman Karolyne Wolfgramm 46 assists and seven digs for NIC.
McKenna Steiner had 13 kills for Yakima Valley (20-15), which faces Highline (30-5) today at noon for third-place.
• WRESTLING
North Idaho 47
Umpqua 3
COEUR d’ALENE — As a Cardinal, when your name is called, you’d better be ready.
Freshman Ethan Boulton was ready for his time in the spotlight on Saturday.
Boulton, a freshman from Payson, Utah, beat John Paul Lavarias by major decision at 133 pounds as the Cardinals whipped the Riverhawks of Roseburg, Ore., at Christianson Gymnasium.
“Ethan, it was his first match of the season coming off being a little banged up,” NIC coach Derrick Booth said. “He had some rust to get off early on, but looked good and was aggressive. We’re really looking forward to seeing what he can do the rest of the season.”
Sophomore Kobi Johnson (125), sophomore Evan Barajas (149) of Bonners Ferry and freshman Noah Poe-Hatten (184) of Kalispell, Mont., also won by pin for NIC.
“It was a good home dual and good to have in our house,” Booth said. “We were a little banged up, but it was nice to have some new faces in the lineup that came out and wrestled hard.”
NIC hosts the Spokane Open today at The Podium in Spokane starting at 9 a.m.
125 — Kobi Johnson, NIC, p. Nicolas Garza, 3:48. 133 — Ethan Boulton, NIC, md. John Paul Lavarias, 10-1. 141 — Kellen Kolka, Ump, d. Gaven Jolley, 11-10. 149 — Evan Barajas, NIC, p. Haiden Randleas, 1:07. 157 — Kenzie Lindsay, NIC, by forfeit. 165 — Connor Larsen, NIC, tf. Anthony Thomas, 20-5. 174 — Conan Northwind, NIC, d. Abraham Dejesus, 10-6. 184 — Noah Poe-Hatten, NIC, p. Trey Munn, 1:27. 197 — Bradley Whitwright, NIC, tf. Hunter Hammer, 19-4. 285 — Tominko Takafua, NIC, by forfeit.
• WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
North Idaho 70
Elite Prep 64
COEUR d’ALENE — Addie Kiefer, a sophomore from Lakeland High, had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Cardinals in a win over Elite Prep of Issaquah, Wash., at Rolly Williams Court.
“Addie started the game off really well for us,” said NIC coach Nathan Covill, who also praised freshman guard Deniece Ryan for a 15 point, five assist night. “Deniece played really well and is just a warrior on the court.”
Oliviyah Edwards, a sophomore, had 29 points and nine rebounds for Elite Prep. Edwards is drawing interest from Pac-12 schools and South Carolina.
“She’s the real deal,” Covill said. “But she’s got some really good complimentary pieces around her as well.”
Kendall Pickford, a redshirt freshman from Lake City High, had 11 points and eight rebounds for NIC (3-3).
The teams meet again today at noon at Rolly Williams Court.
ELITE PREP
Brynna Pukis 5-9 0-0 12, Presley Crawley 4-7 0-0 10, Paige Ary-Turner 4-7 0-0 9, Stella Gilley 1-4 0-0 2, Oliviyah Edwards 12-19 4-6 29, Hailey Reef 1-3 0-0 2, MJ Ramirez-Hernandez 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-60 4-6 64.
NORTH IDAHO
Deniece Ryan 6-13 202 15, Maddie Williamson 4-19 0-0 9, Addie Kiefer 7-16 1-1 15, Faye Davis 0-4 0-0 0, Kendall Pickford 4–13 0-0 11, Anna Serret 0-1 0-0 0, Tayler Adams 7-11 1-2 16, Diana Morales 1-3 0-0 2, Aaliyah Clemons 0-0 0-0 0, Iratxe Amorrotu 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 30-82 4-5 70.
Elite Prep 25 11 15 13 — 64
North Idaho 19 18 17 16 — 70
3-point goals — EP 6-23 (Pukis 2-6, Crawley 2-4, Ary-Turner 1-4, Gilley 1-4, Edwards 1-6, Reef 0-2), NIC 6-20 (Adams 1-1, Ryan 1-1, Pickford 3-11, Williamson 1-6, Amorrotu 0-1). Rebounds — EP 13 (Edwards 9), NIC 46 (Kiefer 12). Assists — EP 11 (Crawley 4), NIC 19 (Ryan 5). Team fouls — EP 5, NIC 7. Fouled out — none.