NIC ROUNDUP: Cardinal men bounce back, beat Northwest
• MEN'S BASKETBALL
CASPER, Wyo. — Hit by the injury bug, the North Idaho College men’s basketball team has had to make some adjustments as they go early on.
On Saturday, the Cardinal found the right mix.
Sophomore Vaughn Weems had 31 points and 18 rebounds for the Cardinals in a 86-77 win over the Northwest Trappers in the Casper College Tournament on Saturday.
“We’re just going through some trial and errors right now,” said NIC coach Corey Symons, whose team was without Jeremiah Sibley (foot) and Ne’quan Brown (foot) due to injury. “We’ve got some new guys in some different spots and still trying to find out what we need to do.”
Gage Ontiveros, a 6-foot-10 post from Pocatello High, is out for the season with a broken foot.
“Our guys played hard and competed,” Symons said. “But we’ve still got some work to do.”
NIC (1-1) faces South Plains College, the current No. 1 team in the NJCAA, to open play at the Title One Invitational at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls on Thursday.
Northwest is 1-1.
NORTH IDAHO
Vaughn Weems 10-29 7-7 31, Sam Marbury 3-9 0-0 8, Cody Wright 0-0 0-0 0, Tautoko Wynyard 2-2 1-1 5, Ajayi Simmons 3-5 0-0 7, Deng Diew 3-6 0-0 7, Dace Pleasant 3-7 0-0 7, Mehmet Bener 0-0 0-0 0, Tayshawn Colvin 1-3 6-7 9, Vander Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Jacori Ervin 2-3 0-0 4, Bryce Henry 4-7 0-0 9. Totals 31-71 14-15 86.
NORTHWEST
Kaden Christensen 2-5 0-0 4, Tate Monroe 5-7 2-2 15, Gunnar Erickson 0-0 0-0 0, Tesloch Thong 4-10 7-9 15, Colin Hayes 3-12 7-7 15, Carter Clark 1-1 0-0 3, Preston Condie 2-6 0-0 5, Trey Rinn 0-2 0-0 0, Eli Patterson 2-8 1-2 5, Ruben Bos 2-7 0-0 5, Drew Larson 5-10 0-0 12, R’Zha Whittle 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 26-71 17-20 77.
Halftime — NIC 44-42. 3-point goals — NIC 10-31 (Weems 4-14, Marbury 2-7, Simmons 1-2, Pleasant 1-3, Colvin 1-2, Henry 1-3), NWC 8-27 (Christensen 0-2, Monroe 3-6, Thong 0-3, Clark 1-1, Condie 1-1, Rinn 0-2, Patterson 0-2, Bos 1-5, Larson 2-4). Rebounds — NIC 48 (Weems 18), NWC 31 (Thong, Bos, Larson 5). Assists — NIC 19 (Simmons 5), NWC 14 (Thong 7). Team fouls — NIC 17, NWC 14. Fouled out — none.
• WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Collin County 84
North Idaho 77
GRAYSON, Texas — Freshman Esmeralda Galindo scored a game-high 22 points for the Cardinals, who led the Cougars after three quarters 59-55 before falling in the Grayson College Showcase.
“I’m proud of our girls,” NIC coach Nathan Colvin said. “The girls played hard and were right with the 11th-ranked team in the NJCAA for three quarters. We just kind of wore out in the fourth quarter, but I was proud of how we battled.”
Sophomore Iratxe Amorrotu scored 13 points for NIC (0-2), which faces Lake Region State on Nov. 15 in Williston, N.D.
Sophomore Alisha Nunley scored 21 points for Collin County (2-0).
Collin County 18 15 22 29 — 84
North Idaho 24 16 19 18 — 77
COLLIN COUNTY — Willis-Gusters 20, Dada 0, Lassey 21, Robinson 0, Macleod 6, Mapengo 0, Fowler 0, Nunley 21, Basaran 0, Smallwood 0, Holmes 0, Martin 15.
NORTH IDAHO — Collin 9, Rookstool 10, Christiansen 0, Galindo 22, Axell 0, Secrest 3, Holakeituai 10, Amorrotu 13, Faleafa 10.