NIC BASKETBALL: Cardinal men fall in battle with Southern Idaho
• MEN
TWIN FALLS — Sophomore Vaughn Weems hit a 3-pointer with 2:17 left to give North Idaho College a 74-71 lead, but freshman Kharyi Dunn scored with two seconds remaining as 15th-ranked Southern Idaho escaped with a 75-74 win over the Cardinals in the Scenic West Athletic Conference opener for both on Saturday.
NIC, which trailed by seven early in the second half, bounced back to take a 36-35 lead on a 3-pointer by Tayshawn Colvin with 16 minutes remaining.
Ajayi Simmons, who scored 16 points off the bench for NIC, gave the Cardinals a 72-68 lead with 2:55 remaining.
Weems finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds for NIC (10-6), which hosts Colorado Northwestern on Thursday.
Dunn scored 27 points for Southern Idaho (13-3).
NORTH IDAHO
Vaughn Weems 9-17 2-2 21, Ne’quan Brown 3-10 0-1 7, Tayshawn Colvin 4-6 1-3 11, Sam Marbury 3-11 0-0 6, Jacori Ervin 5-8 3-4 13, Deng Diew 0-4 0-0 0, Jeremiah Sibley 0-2 0-0 0, Romell Russell 0-2 0-0 0, Tautoko Wynyard 0-0 0-0 0, Ajayi Simmons 6-11 0-0 16. Totals 30-71 6-10 74.
SOUTHERN IDAHO
Tanner Hayhurst 0-5 0-0 0, Walker Timme 5-9 1-2 12, Khayri Dunn 11-17 2-3 27, Nathan Ahner 6-13 0-0 14, Isaac Hawkins 4-15 0-0 11, Jalen Lyn 5-12 0-0 11, Dale Griffin 0-2 0-0 0, Marcus Fizer Jr. 0-0 0-0 0, Samuel Lupumba 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-73 3-5 75.
Halftime — CSI 28-26. 3-point goals — NIC 8-24 (Weems 1-5, Brown 1-4, Colvin 2-2, Marbury 0-2, Dew 0-1, Sibley 0-1, Russell 0-1, Simmons 4-8), CSI 10-30 (Hayhurst 0-4, Timme 1-1, Dunn 3-7, Ahner 2-7, Hawkins 3-4, Lyn 1-6, Griffin 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 44 (Weems 15), CSI 42 (Hawkins 12). Assists — NIC 16 (Weems, Marbury 4), CSI 14 (Lyn 4). Team fouls — NIC 8, CSI 14. Fouled out — none.
• WOMEN
Southern Idaho 80
North Idaho 69
TWIN FALLS — The Cardinals took a big step on Saturday at rival Southern Idaho.
Now, it’s about finding a way to next the next one.
Freshman Esmeralda Galindo, who played at Davis High in Yakima, scored a game-high 30 points for the Cardinals, who were unable to battle back from a halftime deficit in a loss to the eighth-ranked Golden Eagles in the Scenic West Athletic Conference opener for both.
“Our slow starts have been killing us,” said NIC coach Nathan Covill, whose team trailed 45-30 at halftime. “The kids are playing hard, but we need to learn to compete at the next level and that’s the next step.”
CSI outrebounded NIC 45-28.
“We’ll spend the next three days figuring out how to get better,” Covill said. “But the rebounding hurts. Our energy is great, but we’ve got to keep making steps.”
Sophomore Kylani Rookstool, named the conference’s Player of the Week last week, had 10 points for NIC (8-7), which hosts Colorado Northwestern on Thursday.
Kennedy Gillette, a former Sugar-Salem star, had 17 points for Southern Idaho (13-3).
NORTH IDAHO
Chloe Collin 3-9 0-2 7, Kylani Rookstool 2-9 6-7 10, Tiarnee Smith 1-4 0-0 3, Iratxe Amorrortu 1-1 0-0 2, Summer Faleafa 5-12 0-0 11, Esmeralda Galindo 9-21 8-8 30, Ripeka Edwards 1-2 2-2 4, Emmalee Secrest 1-1 0-0 2, Elisa Holakeituai 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-59 16-19 69.
SOUTHERN IDAHO
Kennedy Gillette 3-9 7-8 17, Mariah Mons 3-7 0-0 7, Samara Morrow 4-8 6-9 14, Falon Bedke 4-8 2-2 10, Kayla Porray 2-4 0-0 4, Chloe Jensen 3-6 0-0 7, Alina Sapilak 3-4 0-0 8, Kayla Kasabuchi 1-6 0-0 2, Savannah Stocker 4-7 0-0 8, Macie Brown 1-4 1-2 3, Ashley Garner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-63 16-21 80.
North Idaho 15 15 19 20 — 69
Southern Idaho 26 19 16 19 — 80
3-point goals — NIC 7-18 (Collin 1-3, Rookstool 0-3, Smith 1-1, Faleafa 1-5, Galindo 4-6), CSI 4-20 (Gillette 0-4, Mons 1-1, Morrow 0-4, Porray 0-1, Jensen 1-4, Sapilak 2-3, Kasabuchi 0-3). Rebounds — NIC 28 (Galindo, Edwards 5), CSI 45 (Stoker 8). Assists — NIC 10 (Rookstool 3), CSI 20 (Morrow 7). Team fouls — NIC 18, CSI 22. Fouled out — Bedke.