After spending the last decade trying to calm down Jared Phay from going after the officials during games, it’s on Corey Symons to get him frustrated today.

Phay’s College of Southern Idaho Golden Eagles (13-0) will play host to Symons’ North Idaho Cardinals (12-1) today in the Scenic West Athletic Conference opener for both schools.

The game is the first between Symons, longtime NIC assistant who is now the head coach, and Phay, who left NIC in May to take over the CSI program.

“It’s going to be a little different,” Symons said. “Now, instead of trying to calm him down, I’m going to be trying to rile him up.”

MEN: Phay was the head coach at NIC for 10 seasons, winning the Scenic West Athletic Conference title in 2006, 2009 and 2010. He was named conference coach of the year three different times and his 2010-11 team was the first in school history to reach a No. 1 ranking in the NJCAA polls.

“It’s a big game, not just because it’s the conference opener, but because it’s the game we’ve been anticipating,” Symons said. “We’ve had a good week of practice and now we’ll see if we can’t come down and get an upset.”

Phay, who went 221-94 at NIC, replaced Jeremy Cox, who resigned after one season following a conference championship and 27-5 record.

CSI leads the conference in scoring at 101.5 points per game and is second in scoring defense, allowing 67.4. NIC is third in scoring (91.8) and fourth in scoring defense (71.2).

“We’re still a young team,” Symons said. “One day, we’re happy with them and think they’re ready to take on the world. But we’re playing pretty well. This will be a big game for us to see where we match up with the national talent. We need to figure out how to get some wins with five straight road games in the conference, but I think if we come out, take care of the basketball, we’ll be all right.”

NIC has won 11 straight games and remains 21st in the NJCAA poll, while CSI is ranked second.

“It’s going to be an interesting game,” Symons said. “Coaches get their philosophies from who they’ve coached with, and I’ve only coached under one guy. If we flipped uniforms, you might not be able to tell the difference.”

CSI sophomore Fredrick Edmond is second in the conference in scoring at 20.8 points per game, followed by Jamaal Robateau (16.8), Jordan King (15.6) and Djuan Piper (15.3) of NIC. Edmond, who is also third in rebounding (7.5), has signed with Western Kentucky.

WOMEN: Sophomore Kara Staggs is second in the conference in scoring with 15.9 points per game for NIC (7-2), which has won three straight games.

Holly Blades is third in scoring with 15 per game and Samantha Lubcke leads the conference with 7.8 rebounds per game for 20th-ranked CSI (8-4), which is 7-1 at home this season. The Golden Eagles’ only loss was against Lethbridge 97-96 in a game that saw former Coeur d’Alene High and NIC standout Deanna Dotts finish with 14 points, 11 rebounds and three steals for the Pronghorns.