REGION 18 MEN'S BASKETBALL: Cardinal men eye upsets in Utah
By JASON ELLIOTT
Sports writer
Maybe, the third seed isn’t the worst place to be in this Region 18 men’s basketball tournament after all?
It worked out for Southern Idaho in 2012.
And again for Salt Lake in 2016.
No, why not North Idaho College?
NIC (18-12) is seeded third in this week’s tournament, opening with second-seeded Southern Idaho (21-9) on Friday at 4 p.m. PST at the Horne Activity Center on the campus of Snow College in Ephraim, Utah.
In 2016, NIC concluded the regular season 30-0, then fell in the semifinals at regionals, where third-seeded Salt Lake beat CSI in the title game. Salt Lake won the NJCAA title a few weeks later in Hutchinson, Kan.
In 2012, CSI was seeded third at regionals, then won a national title after winning the regional title.
“It’s worked out well for them in the past, so hopefully it does for us too,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “Maybe third is where you want to be in this.”
NIC started conference play 1-5 this season before inserting sophomore post Deng Diew into the starting lineup. The Cardinals have since won seven of their final nine games in conference, the lone losses coming to Snow, which beat NIC 76-71 last Saturday in Ephraim.
“Our guys are starting to buy into their roles and we need to keep it going,” Symons said. “We had a tough loss against Snow, but had our chances. Now, we’ve got to be at our best against CSI to get another shot at them. But the guys are playing really well right now.”
NIC won two of three against CSI this season. The Golden Eagles are expected to have Walker Timme – the younger brother of former Gonzaga star Drew Timme – and Isaac Hawkins back from injury for the first time in over two months.
“They’re going to be tough,” said Symons, in his 11th season as NIC coach and 21st with the program. “I talked to their coach and he said it’s the first time they’ve been fully healthy in 10 weeks. It’s going to be a tough matchup and playing someone four times isn’t easy. We’re going to have to be focused on what we need to do.”
CSI beat NIC 75-74 in the conference opener on Jan. 4. NIC beat CSI 108-81 on Feb. 8 in Coeur d’Alene, then 77-67 in Twin Falls on Feb. 22.
“It will be a good game, and always is with a rivalry game,” Symons said. “They’ve got a few things up their sleeves, and so do we.”
Snow (29-1), the No. 1 team in the NJCAA, went unbeaten in conference and will face fourth-seeded Salt Lake (19-11) in the other semifinal Friday.
Friday’s winners will meet in the regional championship on Saturday at 2 p.m., with that winner hosting a playoff game against the Region 1 (Arizona) champion on March 15 for a berth to nationals.
The tournament is available to stream at www.scenicwestsports.com.
REGION 18 MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Times PST
At Snow College
Ephraim, Utah
Friday’s Games
Game 1 – No. 3 North Idaho (18-12) vs. No. 2 Southern Idaho (21-9), 4 p.m.
Game 2 – No. 4 Salt Lake (19-11) vs. No. 1 Snow (29-1), 6:30 p.m.
Saturday’s Game
Championship
Game 3 – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 2 p.m.