NIC ROUNDUP: Cardinal men fall, but advance to regionals
• MEN'S BASKETBALL
TWIN FALLS — Goal one is complete for the North Idaho College men’s basketball team.
Now, they’ve got to get healthy again.
NIC, without starters Cobi Campbell and Jalen Skalskiy, fell to in-state rival Southern Idaho 92-73 on Saturday, but maintained its lead in the conference to advance to the four-team Region 18 Tournament starting Friday in Taylorsville, Utah.
“Missing two starters hurt,” said NIC coach Corey Symons, who also lost Terin Johnson early in the first half due to injury. “We competed and battled hard, but just didn’t shoot very well. We tried to make some runs, but I was happy with how the guys played.”
NIC (21-9, 7-5 SWAC) will face top-seeded and conference champion Salt Lake on Friday in an opening round game. CSI (22-8, 9-3), the second seed, will face third-seeded Utah State-Eastern in the other opening round game.
“Our goal was to make the tournament,” Symons said. “Our league is so tough that two games ago, we had a chance to win this league. It’s a win for us to get to the tournament. Now, we’ll see if we can make some noise next week.”
Jaylon Johnson scored 16 points for CSI, which lost at NIC 91-73 on Feb. 2.
NORTH IDAHO
Terin Johnson 2-5 2-4 6, Austin Johnson 3-13 0-0 7, Vaughn Weems 8-18 5-5 24, Kyle Karstetter 1-8 2-2 4, Dante Sawyer 5-18 8-10 20, D’Andre Clermont 1-4 3-4 5, Tayshawn Colvin 1-5 2-2 4, Bryce Henry 1-3 1-2 3, Tanner Tollestrup 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-77 23-29 73.
SOUTHERN IDAHO
Asim Jones 4-12 1-2 Jaylon Johnson 6-13 1-1 16, Britton Berrett 1-6 0-0 2, Shahid Muhammad 5-6 3-5 13, Sam Phipps 1-3 4-4 6, Dale Griffin 0-2 0-0 0, Kasen Carpenter 4-5 0-0 12, Alan Kane 0-2 2-4 2, Jordan Hamilton 4-9 0-0 8, Cassius Carmichael 0-0 0-0 0, Isaac Hawkins 0-1 4-4 4, Walker Timme 3-5 2-4 8, Brandon Oloumou 0-0 2-2 2, Jakari Livingston 4-6 0-0 9. Totals 32-70 19-26 92.
Halftime — CSI 35-23. 3-point goals — NIC 6-25 (T. Johnson 0-1, A. Johnson 1-6, Weems 3-4, Karstetter 0-5, Sawyer 2-5, Colvin 0-2, Henry 0-1, Tollestrup 0-1), CSI 9-25 (Jones 1-5, Johnson 3-6, Berrett 0-4, Griffin 0-1, Carpenter 4-5, Kane 0-1, Hamilton 0-1, Livingston 1-2). Rebounds — NIC 48 (Weems 15), CSI 51 (Muhammad 11). Assists — NIC 5 (T. Johnson 2), CSI 12 (Jones 5). Team fouls — NIC 19, CSI 21. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — Muhammad, Timme.
• WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Southern Idaho 76
North Idaho 63
TWIN FALLS — Addie Kiefer, a sophomore from Lakeland High, had 23 points and 15 rebounds for the Cardinals, who concluded the season with a Scenic West Athletic Conference loss to the 16th ranked Golden Eagles.
“Holy smokes, if that’s Addie’s last game as a Cardinal, what a game to go out on,” second-year NIC coach Nathan Covill said. “She did some really good things today. Both Maddie Williamson and Iratxe (Amorrortu) had some really good moments as well.”
NIC finishes 8-17, 1-9 in the conference, where the team returned to for the first time since the 2015 season this year after eight years in the Northwest Athletic Conference.
“The results weren’t what we wanted, but the girls battled and came to practice each day,” Covill said. “Our sophomores, we’ve got a lot to be thankful about. Win or lose, they started the next chapter of NIC women’s basketball, and I’ll always be thankful for that.”
CSI (25-5, 8-2) will be the second seed to the Region 18 Tournament March 14-15 in Taylorsville, Utah.
NORTH IDAHO
Solei Elletson 3-15 0-0 7, Maddie Williamson 6-10 0-0 13, Addie Kiefer 7-12 9-14 23, Faye Davis 0-4 0-0 0, Kendall Pickford 1-11 0-0 3, Anna Serret 1-2 0-0 2, Diana Morales 3-4 0-0 6, Iratxe Amorrortu 4-8 0-0 9. Totals 25-66 9-14 63.
SOUTHERN IDAHO
Jayden McNeal 2-3 1-2 5, Izzy Arave 3-6 0-0 8, Brayli Jenks 0-4 0-0 0, Kaylee Headrick 8-14 1-2 20, Jill Lungren 1-3 0-0 2, Kennedy Gillette 4-6 2-2 12, Mariah Mons 1-1 0-0 2, Elena Burkland 0-2 2-2 2, Kennedy Stenquist 0-1 0-0 0, Makeili Ika 1-2 0-0 2, Kayla Porray 0-1 4-4 4, Charli Cook 0-4 0-0 0, Jamisyn Heaton 6-15 1-3 13, Taylor Johnson 1-2 1-3 3. Totals 28-67 13-20 76.
North Idaho 17 20 9 17 — 63
Southern Idaho 17 23 19 17 — 76
3-point goals — NIC 4-23 (Elletson 1-8, Williamson 1-1, Pickford 1-9, Serret 0-1, Amorrortu 1-4), CSI 7-21 (Arave 2-4, Jenks 0-2, Headrick 3-3, Gillette 2-3, Birkeland 0-1, Stenquist 0-1, Ika 0-1, Porray 0-1, Cook 0-3, Heaton 0-2). Rebounds — NIC 34 (Kiefer 15), CSI 51 (Headrick 13). Assists — NIC 14 (Amorrortu 5), CSI 17 (Headrick 4). Team fouls — NIC 14, CSI 13. Fouled out — none.
• SOFTBALL
Cardinals take two
in Yakima
YAKIMA, Wash. — Kristine Schmidt, a freshman from Coeur d’Alene High, struck out 10 and allowed six hits in the opener as the Cardinals, the top-ranked team in the Northwest Athletic Conference, swept second-ranked Southwestern Oregon 5-0 and 11-6 in nonconference play at West Valley High.
“Kristine threw really well in that first game,” said NIC coach Shay Chapman. “All of her pitches are working well right now and she commanded the zone really well.”
In the nightcap, Kennedy Hobson, Kaylee Vieira, Hayden Rockwell and Summer Makinster homered in the second inning as the Cardinals pounded out 16 hits.
“We made some good offensive adjustments,” Chapman said. “In the first game, we were really early and got our timing down and set the tone early in that game.”
NIC competes in a NWAC Crossover tournament next weekend in Pasco, Wash.