TWIN FALLS - On Friday, North Idaho College men's basketball coach Corey Symons and College of Southern Idaho coach Jared Phay went to dinner, just like longtime friends are bound to do when they reunite.

For 40 minutes on Saturday, they might have been on different sides of the rivalry between North Idaho College and the College of Southern Idaho, but once that horn sounded at the end, with Phay's new team, CSI, winning 78-64, it was like they never left each other's side.

"Once the ball gets thrown up, I usually don't look down at the other end," Symons said. "After the game, we hugged each other at center court and wished each other luck."

Phay won 221 games at NIC in 10 seasons before leaving in May for the CSI job.

"I'm happy for him," Symons said. "There's lots of pressure on him and some on me as well. We had newspaper and TV cameras in our faces for most of the night, so I think we're both glad it's over and we can move on to the next one."

Fredrick Edmond, who has signed with Western Kentucky, scored 23 points on 9 of 11 shooting to lead the second-ranked Golden Eagles past the Cardinals in the Scenic West Athletic Conference opener for both schools.

NIC (12-2) opened a 17-10 lead on a 3-pointer by Kyle Guice with 13:53 remaining in the first half, but CSI closed the first half with a 44-31 lead.

"It was a really crucial point in the game," Symons said. "We started to play a little carelessly and there was about eight minutes where they just took it to us. But other than that, we played right with them."

CSI (14-0) held NIC to 22 of 58 shooting from the field.

"They do a good job on defense," Symons said. "Jared has done a good job with them. It was our first game against a press and we didn't make good decisions."

NIC had 21 turnovers, 18 coming on CSI steals, and the Golden Eagles scored 32 points off turnovers.

"We've got some good things to work on and move on to next week," Symons said.

NIC travels to Colorado Northwestern on Thursday.

CSI visits NIC on Jan. 17.

NORTH IDAHO

Braian Angola-Rodas 9-15 1-3 20, Djuan Piper 6-12 4-6 17, Kyle Guice 3-10 0-0 9, Jordan King 2-8 2-3 7, Fuquan Niles 1-1 2-3 5, Jamaal Robateau 1-5 6-7 8, Lucas Antunez 0-1 0-0 0, Marcus Harris 0-4 0-0 0, D'Adrian Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Charlie Lockwood 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-58 14-21 64.

SOUTHERN IDAHO

Fredrick Edmond 9-11 3-7 23, Abdoulave Harouna 3-13 4-4 13, Keonta Vernon 6-8 0-4 12, Pape Diatta 5-6 0-1 11, Tyson Smith 0-8 7-8 7, Shaq Carr 2-6 1-1 5, Ray Kasongo 2-4 0-3 4, Austin Winegar 1-2 0-0 3, Ar'Mond Davis 0-7 1-1 1, Kenrick Hudson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-66 16-29 78.

Halftime - CSI 44-31. 3-point goals - NIC 6-23 (Angola-Rodas 1-2, Piper 1-3, Guice 3-9, King 1-2, Robateau 0-4, Harris 0-3), CSI 6-26 (Edmond 2-2, Harouna 3-12, Diatta 1-2, Smith 0-2, Carr 0-1, Winegar 0-1, Davis 0-6). Rebounds - NIC 40 (Angola-Rodas 10), CSI 47 (Vernon 13). Assists - NIC 8 (Angola-Rodas, Piper 3), CSI 17 (Carr 9). Team fouls - NIC 19, CSI 18. Fouled out - none.

Southern Idaho 87

North Idaho 77

TWIN FALLS — Sophomore guard Kara Staggs scored 17 of her game-high 23 points in the first half for the Cardinals, who fell to the 20th-ranked Golden Eagles in the Scenic West Athletic Conference opener for both schools.

Staggs was sidelined briefly in the second half after colliding with the knee of CSI forward Elisbet Lopez Sagrera chasing a loose ball, but returned to the game.

“She had a good collision and I thought she’d be facing possible injury,” NIC coach Chris Carlson said. “And then, there she was on the bench and (NIC assistant coach) Carey’s (Carlson) telling me she’s ready to go back in. It just wasn’t enough, but she played fantastic.”

NIC (7-3) shot 17 of 32 from the field, including 8 of 16 from beyond the 3-point line in the first half, and trailed 51-46 at the half.

“It was a really fun game,” Carlson said. “I loved how our team came out and competed. If we would have rebounded a little better and ran some of our offensive sets better in the final four minutes, we might have been able to get a win.”

Former Highland High standout Ma Kenzie VanSickle and Samantha Lubcke each scored 20 points for CSI (9-4).

NIC travels to Colorado Northwestern on Thursday.

NORTH IDAHO

Maci Benedict 1-4 0-0 3, Bailey Schroeder 2-8 0-0 5, Kara Staggs 8-18 2-2 23, Mariah Swanson 5-12 1-2 11, Panisesi Taimani 2-5 0-0 4, Katie King 0-0 0-0 0, Ryleigh Swagerty 0-0 0-0 0, Monica Landdeck 3-9 0-0 6, Sabrina Earle 0-0 0-0 0, Caitlyn Behymer 4-10 5-6 13, Grace Varcoe 1-1 1-2 3, Samara Hill 3-3 0-0 9. Totals 29-70 9-12 77.

SOUTHERN IDAHO

Ma Kenzie VanSickle 7-10 1-2 20, Holly Blades 3-12 2-2 10, Denajha Kie 5-8 8-8 18, Elisabet Lopez Sagrera 5-11 0-2 10, Samantha Lubcke 7-11 6-9 20, McClain Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Matti Ventling 0-0 0-0 0, Rachelle Owens 1-2 0-0 2, Ruby Shreeve 0-0 0-1 0, Ralena Phillips 0-3 0-0 0, Alexia Mefi 2-4 3-5 7. Totals 30-61 20-29 87.

Halftime — CSI 51-46. 3-point goals — NIC 10-30 (Benedict 1-4, Schroeder 1-6, Staggs 5-12, Swanson 0-2, Landdeck 0-2, Behymer 0-1, Hill 3-3), CSI 7-14 (VanSickle 5-8, Blades 2-6). Rebounds — NIC 34 (Behymer 8), CSI 48 (Lubcke 13). Assists — NIC 22 (Benedict 6), CSI 23 (VanSickle, Blades 6). Team fouls — NIC 21, CSI 17. Technical fouls — NIC. Fouled out — none.