It has been two years since the North Idaho College men’s and women’s basketball teams made the move from the NJCAA and Scenic West Athletic Conference to the more regionally-based Northwest Athletic Conference.

Had you been in the crowd for Saturday’s rivalry showdown between the Cardinals and the visiting Community Colleges of Spokane, it probably felt a lot like some of those matchups against that team from Twin Falls.

NOT SAYING that the Sasquatch have replaced the College of Southern Idaho in terms of talent, intensity of those matchups and overall crowd support, but it’s getting close.

Having two close games will do that for a fan base, no matter who’s on the court.

Saturday’s matchup in the women’s game featured two teams trying to put themselves back in the middle of the playoff race in the East Region.

“Our biggest thing is just getting a ‘W’,” NIC women’s basketball coach Chris Carlson said. “The East Region is tough. Really tough. There’s a lot of teams that could get really deep in the conference tournament in our region. Getting a win was the biggest step forward and we’ve got two big league games coming up. And we’d love to get to 4-4. That’s really the goal.”

NIC (2-4 in the NWAC) travels to Wenatchee Valley tonight. Columbia Basin (7-0) and Walla Walla (6-0) are the lone unbeaten teams in conference play after Saturday’s games. Three teams are tied at 3-3, including Wenatchee Valley.

“This year, the Eastern Region is hard and as good as its ever been,” Community Colleges of Spokane coach Bruce Johnson said. “We’re a good team. We’re not a great team, but we lost at Walla Walla in overtime in the first game of the year. There’s just a lot of very good teams this year. North Idaho is a good team, but even they might not make it (to the NWAC tournament). That’s just how good teams are this year.”

The top four teams from the East Region qualify for the NWAC tournament.

NIC forced 28 turnovers against Spokane, 17 coming in the first half where the Cardinals jumped out to a 45-26 halftime lead.

“That’s how we like to play and try to get some extra turnovers,” NIC sophomore point guard Cierra Dvorak said. “It’s helpful when we’ve got a high-intensity defense and can kick that over to the offensive side and get some extra points. Against Spokane, I knew a lot of the kids on their team, but not as many this year. But it’s always good to come away with a win.”

THINGS GOT a lot tighter in the men’s chase, with NIC (4-2) moving into a four-way tie for second in the East Region. Walla Walla leads the conference at 5-1.

“People want to laugh at us because we don’t shoot many 3-pointers,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “I just told Ray (RayQuan Evans) in the locker room that you’ve got to shoot 3s, but he told me, ‘why would I shoot 3s, when I can get to the basket.’ And that’s kind of our Cardinal mentality, ‘why do we need to shoot 30 3-pointers a game,’ because that’s an NWAC thing. We’ve developed our own thing and try to get to the basket and not shoot as many jump shots as other teams. And we’ve got to keep playing Cardinal basketball.”

NIC concludes the first half of conference play at home on Saturday against Blue Mountain.

“It’s a little tougher, and we’ve had to coach our tails off this year because we’ve got so many new players this year,” Symons said. “With Jalen (Burkett) and bringing Charles (Williams) off a redshirt, we’ve got two returners. But the rest of these guys are new to our program. The East is so tough, with six or eight teams that could go to the tournament and win it. It’s a tough region, and we’ve got to be sure not to have a letdown. Each night is a battle.”

Maybe not the battles most fans are used to, but one worth checking out if you find yourself starving for college basketball.

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 jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.