Cards take stock in recent run

The names might be a lot newer, but those expectations are still the same for the North Idaho College men’s basketball team.

No matter if it’s in the NJCAA or NWAC, if there is one things that is for certain, it’s that the Cardinals are going to contend for a postseason berth.

IN ITS second year in the more regionally friendly NWAC, NIC still holds the same approach to getting the top players they can into the gym.

“We’ve had a lot of history and strength in the last decade,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “They want to come play for us. We’re still able to get some top level guys. We don’t have quite the scholarships we did before, but a lot of our success has come from our recruiting.”

Since Symons took over at NIC, the Cardinals have sent players to Florida State (Braian Angola-Rodas), Idaho (Brayon Blake) and Idaho State (Sam Dowd), South Dakota (Trey Burch-Manning), as well as many others still playing around the country.

One team that NIC was unable to get on the schedule was the College of Southern Idaho, but that wasn’t without effort.

“(CSI coach and former NIC head coach) Jared (Phay) and I tried to get it going again,” Symons said. “They host so many tournaments and unfortunately it didn’t work out. We could have played in one, but we’re going to Everett that weekend (site of the NWAC Championships). With that and a trip to California, all of our tournaments were booked. Hopefully, we’ll get down for a tournament next year.”

UPON ARRIVING for the NWAC volleyball Championships, the NIC squad was hit with some illness, but still fought on to sweep Shoreline in its only match on the opening day on Thursday.

“We had a few girls that had to jump in and play,” NIC coach Kelsey Stanley said. “A few of them were sicker than a dog, but we did well today. We got in and got the job done, and got back to rest.”

NIC won its elimination match after falling to Linn-Benton on Friday afternoon, and will have to win out to bring a title back to Coeur d’Alene.

And with the game of volleyball, anything’s possible.

Even when it doesn’t quite look that way.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.