Bayley qualifies for Junior Worlds golf tourney

Derek Bayley, who will be a senior at Lakeland High this fall, has qualified for the Callaway Junior World Golf Championships, scheduled for July 15-19 at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, Calif.

Bayley qualified by placing in the top three in the boys 15-17 age group in a qualifier Monday at the Idaho Falls Country Club. Bayley tied for second, shooting a 1-under-par 71. Hayden Ritter of Boise won it with a 70, and Kiefer Higham of Idaho Falls also shot 71.

NIC teams, athletes earn academic awards

North Idaho College's women's basketball team was one of 48 women's basketball teams named an NJCAA all-academic team for the 2012-13 school year.

The Cardinals had a 3.10 team GPA. A minimum GPA of 3.00 was required.

NIC's women's golf team was one of 16 women's golf teams honored. The Cardinals had a 3.31 GPA.

NIC's softball team was one of more than 100 softball teams honored. The Cardinals had a 3.26 team GPA.

Cardinals who received academic student-athlete awards were Kacey Brunner, women's soccer (3.94 GPA), Kabri Emerson, women's basketball (3.77); Jenna Krum, softball (3.82); Kelsey LaVaute, softball (3.81); Callie Martin, women's soccer (3.96); Jarrett Morrill, wrestling (3.98); Alaina Webb, women's soccer (3.78); Ryan Zumwalt, wrestling (3.92) and Jordan Zumwalt, softball (3.68).

Best of Northwest tournament begins today at Ramsey, Post Falls

The Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen and Prairie Cardinals will host games in the 20-team Best of the Northwest "AA" Wood Bat tournament starting today.

Teams will compete in pool play in four different divisions, with each team guaranteed at least five games.

Coeur d'Alene will face the SBC Expos today at 4:30 p.m., then Yard Academy at 7 at Ramsey Park.

Prairie will host the Spokane Dodgers "White" today at 3:30 p.m. and the Tri-County Outlaws at 6 at Post Falls High.

Semifinal and championship games are scheduled for Sunday at Central Valley High in Spokane.

Vandals women draw Zags in WNIT

The Idaho women's basketball team will face Gonzaga in the opening round of the 2013 Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament, as the first round pairings were announced Tuesday.

The Vandals and Bulldogs will tip off the 2013 season at 6 p.m. on Nov. 8 in Spokane.

Idaho is coming off its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 28 years after winning the Western Athletic Conference Tournament in 2013. The Vandals have all five starters back from that team, which went 17-16, the most wins for the program since 2004-05. Gonzaga returns four of five starters from a team that went 27-6 overall and won the West Coast Conference with a 15-1 league mark last season.

GU has reached the NCAA Tournament in five consecutive seasons.

The Preseason WNIT features a three-game guarantee format. Second-round games will be played Nov. 10 and 11 and sites will be announced following the first-round results.

Semifinals will be Nov. 14 and the championship will be played on Nov. 17 and will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.

The winner of Idaho-Gonzaga will face the winner of Tennessee-Martin and Georgia State. Teams that lose in the first two rounds will play consolation games on the second weekend, Nov. 15 and 16.

All games are hosted by participating schools. The consolation bracket will be redrawn to form new matchups based on geography, who can and cannot host, and recent history of teams.