THE FRONT ROW with JASON ELLIOTT: Still a lot to learn on the court

You have to love March as a basketball fan.

Everyone you know has a bracket of some type, whether it be for the NCAA Tournament or maybe picking their favorite family members for the month.

As someone that has won a few of those bracket pools, and lost in some pretty unforgivable fashion, it’s not about winning and losing.

It’s what you learned along the way.

IN CASE you missed it, the North Idaho College men’s basketball team capped an unbeaten 28-0 regular season on Wednesday with a win over Wenatchee Valley at Rolly Williams Court.

It is the second such time Cardinal coach Corey Symons has accomplished the feat, also doing so in 2015-16 when the Cardinals went 30-0 to capture the NJCAA Scenic West Athletic Conference title.

That year, NIC advanced to the Region 18 championship game, but fell short to Salt Lake in the title game. At nationals, NIC fell again. Salt Lake ended up winning the title that year.

“We’ve talked a lot about that season in the last week,” Symons said. “We talked about how hard it is to keep winning night after night and just stay focused on the next team. We’ve got to take it one game at a time. We’ve learned a lot from that year, the mistakes we made and hopefully the guys have as well.”

NIC opens the NWAC Tournament against Bellevue (19-9) on March 11 at 8 p.m.

This year, the tournament will be held at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, Wash., after being moved from Everett Community College.

“We know how hard it is,” Symons said. “It’s not easy. Anyone can beat anyone in this conference. Each day, we’re going to have to focus on just winning the one game. And the guys have really bought into that.”

As for first-year women’s coach Nathan Covill, whose team clinched a spot in the championships with a win over Wenatchee Valley, a third straight, the team opens with South Puget Sound on Thursday at 6 p.m.

It is the third straight trip to the conference tournament for the Cardinals, all under different coaches Chris Carlson (2020) and Korina Baker (2022).

“I know we’re on the same side of the bracket as Lane (27-1),” Covill said. “We knew what we had to do to give ourselves a shot. You’ve got to go through them at some point.”

NIC had to win its last three games to advance. Not only did they do that, the Cardinals moved up in the standings to third in the East Region.

“I’m excited,” Covill said. “The girls have come such a long way this season.”

IN MOST cases, when it comes time for conference tournaments, there’s always a team that catches fire and turns into the tournament darling.

North Carolina, which struggled a little bit last year before going on a run to finish runner-up to Kansas, might need another one of those runs this year in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, just to be considered for the 68-team men’s tournament.

Crazy, considering the Tar Heels were the No. 1 team in the nation when they played in the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland during Thanksgiving weekend.

To be fair, Portland looked destined for a good season after falling 89-81 to the Tar Heels. The Pilots entered Friday’s second-round game in the West Coast Conference Tournament with a 14-18 record.

It’s March and anything can and will happen.

We should know that by now.

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