NIC BASKETBALL: Cardinal women notch first conference win
• WOMEN
EPHRAIM, Utah — A strong fourth quarter propelled the North Idaho College women’s basketball team to a 71-68 victory over Snow College on Thursday night at the Horne Activity Center, the Cardinals’ first conference victory in their first year back after leaving the Scenic West Athletic Conference following the 2016 season.
“We just kept plugging away; I’m proud of the way we finished the game,” NIC coach Nate Covill said. “I let my assistant (Louie Vargas) talk to them at halftime, and he did a great job. I think the girls were tired of playing low, and not playing to our level.”
Addie Kiefer (Lakeland High) and Kendall Pickford (Lake City) each scored 15 points for NIC 8-14, 1-6 SWAC), which lost 78-70 to Snow in the conference opener Jan. 10 in Coeur d’Alene. Kiefer had seven rebounds, and Pickford had five boards and five assists for NIC, which trailed 49-42 after three quarters.
Deniece Ryan and Iratxe Amorrortu each added 11 for the Cardinals, and Solei Elletson had 10 points and six rebounds.
Enid Vaifanua scored a game-high 19 points for Snow (12-12, 2-6).
NIC plays at Salt Lake Community College on Saturday.
NORTH IDAHO
Deniece Ryan 4-6 3-4 11, Maddie Willamson 4-13 0-0 9, Addie Kiefer 5-10 5-9 15, Faye Davis 0-2 0-0 0, Kendall Pickford 4-13 3-4 15, Solei Elletson 3-9 2-4 10, Kalysta Troman 0-2 0-0 0, Diana Morales 0-1 0-0 0, Iratxe Amorrortu 5-7 0-0 11.
SNOW
Enid Vaifanue 6-14 5-5 19, Brooke Pennington 2-6 0-0 5, Maliyah Elliott 6-11 1-4 13, Ainsley Thurber 8-18 0-0 18, Signe Bang 0-4 0-0 0, Dalana Jakovljevic 0-3 3-4 3, Lili Suguturaga 0-1 0-0 0, Iyala Beh 4-5 2-4 10.
North Idaho 12 13 17 29 — 71
Snow 19 16 14 19 — 68
3-point goals — NIC 8-24 (Williamson 1-4, Pickford 4-11, Elletson 2-5, Troman 0-2, Amorrortu 1-2), Snow 5-14 (Vaifanua 2-6, Pennington 1-3, Thurber 2-4, Bang 0-1, Jakovljevic 3-4, Beh 2-4). Rebounds — NIC 38 (Ryan 8), Snow 43 (Elliott 9). Assists — NIC 12 (Pickford 5), Snow 16 (Pennington 7). Fouled out — Amorrortu, Vaifanua. Total fouls — NIC 19, Snow 18.
• MEN
North Idaho 74
Snow 69
COEUR d’ALENE — Look who’s tied for first place in the Scenic West?
The North Idaho Cardinals, after using a strong defensive second half to roar past the Badgers at the Horne Activity Center.
NIC (20-6, 6-2 SWAC) is tied for first with College of Southern Idaho and Salt Lake Community College. The top four teams advance to the Region 18 tournament in early March, and the SWAC champ hosts.
“This is a huge win for us,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “This puts us in a good spot to make the regional tournament, and maybe host.”
Dante Sawyer of NIC hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 3 minutes left against Snow (10-5, 5-4), which won 77-75 at NIC last month.
The Cardinals trailed 42-37 at halftime, then held the Badgers to 27 points and 27% shooting in the second half.
“We really did an unbelievable job on the defensive end in the second half,” Symons said. “We just locked in defensively. Kyle Karstetter did an unbelievable job, and Jalen Skalskiy (16 rebounds) cleaned up on the glass.”
Sawyer finished with 19 points, and Vaughn Weems had 18 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Dylan Jones led Snow with 20 points.
NIC plays at Salt Lake on Saturday.
NORTH IDAHO
Austin Johnson 4-13 1-2 10, Cobi Campbell 2-9 4-7 10, Kyle Karstetter 1-3 0-0 3, Dante Sawyer 7-15 3-4 19, Jalen Skalskiy 2-8 1-2 5, Terin Johnson 4-5 1-3 9, Vaughn Weems 8-11 1-1 18. Totals 28-64 11-19 74.
SNOW
Mark Brown 2-7 0-0 4, Colin Christensen 4-11 2-4 11, Isaac Finlinson 3-13 1-2 7, Dylan Jones 8-18 1-2 20, Max Triplett 3-8 7-8, 13, Gaige Savage 2-4 0-0 5, Coleman Ford 1-4 0-03, Isaac Garrett 3-6 0-0 6. Totals 26-71 11-16 69.
Halftime — Snow 42-37. 3-point goals — NIC 7-24 (A. Johnson 1-7, Campbell 2-7, Karstetter 1-3, Sawyer 2-4, Skalskiy 0-2, Weems 1-1), Snow 6-30 (Brown 0-2, Christensen 1-4, Finlinson 0-7, Jones 3-9, Triplett 0-1, Savage 1-3, Ford 1-3, Garrett 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 46 (Skalskiy 16), Snow 42 (Triplett 10). Assists — NIC 12 (Campbell, Karstetter, Skalskiy 3), Snow 13 (Triplett 4). Fouled out — Garrett. Total fouls — NIC 14, Snow 18.