Blake sharp in debut for Card men

COEUR d'ALENE - For a season debut, Shikei Blake made the most of his opportunity for the North Idaho College men's basketball team.

Blake, a 6-foot-8 forward from Wilmington, Del., had 11 points, six rebounds and a blocked shot for the Cardinals in a 99-89 win against Williston State on Saturday night in the NIC Thanksgiving Classic at Rolly Williams Court.

"We'd been contemplating redshirting him because he'd been away from the team because his brother had been killed in a tragic car accident," NIC coach Jared Phay said. "He'd been away from us for a few weeks with his family. We need him and he needs us. He's a very talented kid and we know he can help us, and we're excited to have him back out on the court."

Bryce Leavitt scored a game-high 31 points and Will Dorsey added 23 points for NIC (7-2), which hosts Blue Mountain today at 1 p.m. to conclude tourney play.

"Bryce was huge for us and is becoming a Mr. Everything guy for us," Phay said. "Will played well too and those guys are starting to become a good 1-2 punch for us. We're starting to gel a little bit and understand each other a little bit and starting to play the right way."

Trey Dickerson scored 24 points for Williston State.

WILLISTON STATE

Trey Dickerson 6-13 10-12 24, Johnathan Wilson 1-2 0-2 2, Jordan Nanton 2-2 0-1 4, Tahjee Williams 5-13 0-0 10, Tre Brunette 7-17 0-0 17, Kyle Erding 0-1 0-0 0, Osa Izevbuka 1-5 4-4 6, Houston Lavachek 0-5 1-3 1, Deji Adekunle 1-1 2-3 4, Ayob Ayob 7-11 6-7 20. Totals 30-70 23-32 88.

NORTH IDAHO

Jason Wheelock 0-0 0-0 0, Braxton Tucker 5-12 3-6 3, Brad Wallace 1-3 2-2 5, Bryce Leavitt 11-16 6-7 31, Nathan Rathbun 0-2 3-4 3, Will Dorsey 7-14 7-8 23, Cole Kesler 1-5 0-0 3, Fuquan Niles 0-1 0-0 0, Tatafu Nuku 5-6 0-0 10, Jordon King 0-1 0-0 0, Shikei Blake 4-5 3-6 11, Ty Higbie 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-65 24-33 99.

Halftime - NIC 42-32. 3-point goals - WSC 5-26 (Dickerson 2-7, Brunette 3-11, Erding 0-1, Izebuwa 0-2, Lavachek 0-5), NIC 7-15 (Tucker 0-1, Wallace 1-3, Leavitt 3-5, Dorsey 2-3, Kesler 1-3). Rebounds - WSC 42 (Brunette 11), NIC 28 (Leavitt 9). Assists - WSC 9 (Dickerson 5), NIC 15 (Wallace). Team fouls - WSC 23, NIC 22. Team fouls - Wilson, Kesler, Rathbun

* WOMEN

North Idaho 72

Spokane 55

COEUR d'ALENE - Kara Staggs had 13 points, six rebounds and three assists to lead the Cardinals past the Bigfoot in the NIC Thanksgiving Classic at Rolly Williams Court.

NIC shot 9 of 20 from beyond the 3-point line after going 0-for-13 in Friday's win against Wenatchee Valley.

Renae Mokrzycki had 14 points and six rebounds for NIC (8-1), which hosts Blue Mountain today at 11 a.m. to conclude tourney play.

SPOKANE

Karlee Martin 0-3 0-0 0, Ivionna Reece 3-5 1-3 7, Alex Overton 0-1 0-0 0, Riley Holsinger 7-22 6-7 21, Aurorah Davis 1-1 0-0 2, Bianca Gonzales 1-4 2-4 4, Morgan Freeman 4-10 5-7 13, Maria Guske 0-0 0-0 0, Emily Schramm 1-4 0-1 2, Briana Anderson 3-9 0-3 6. Totals 20-59 14-25 55.

NORTH IDAHO

Georgia Stirton 4-5 0-0 9, Katie King 0-1 0-0 0, Jansen Butler 2-6 0-0 5, Bailey Schroeder 1-3 2-2 4, Morgan Grier 2-7 1-2 6, Ryleigh Swagerty 3-3 0-0 8, Kara Staggs 5-12 0-0 13, Sabrina Earle 1-3 1-2 3, Renae Mokrzycki 7-14 0-0 14, Caitlyn Behymer 0-3 1-2 1, Maggie Kirscher 0-2 0-0 0, Panisessi Taimani 4-10 0-0 9. Totals 29-69 5-8 72.

Halftime - NIC 36-22. 3-point goals - CCS 1-5 (Holsinger 1-2, Gonzales 0-1, Freeman 0-1, Schramm 0-1), NIC 9-20 (Stirton 1-1, Butler 1-3, Schroeder 0-2, Grier 1-4, Swagerty 2-2, Staggs 3-7, Taimani 1-1). Rebounds - CCS 41 (Anderson 5), NIC 47 (Stirton 8). Assists - CCS 7 (Holsinger 3), NIC 13 (Schroeder, Grier, Staggs 3). Team fouls - CCS 13, NIC 21. Fouled out - Anderson.