• MEN'S BASKETBALL

WILLISTON, N.D. — In a zone now, North Idaho College is beginning to find what makes it tick on the basketball court. 

NIC made 37 of 68 shots, running away with a 94-73 win against Williston State on Saturday night. 

“We’re starting to find our identity,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “We really focused on our zone defense and we’ve played our best two games of the season back-to-back. It has really fueled our offense and we’ve been getting some stops on defense. We’ve been trying to figure out what we’re good at and the guys really bought into this weekend’s gameplan.” 

Sophomore Vaughn Weems had 34 points and nine rebounds for NIC (4-3), which hosts Casper (Wyo.) in its home opener on Thursday. 

Freshman Deng Diew scored 19 points for the Cardinals off the bench. 

“Deng is an unbelievable player, but he’s trying to find his role with the team,” Symons said. “It was great to see him have a breakout game for us tonight.” 

Williston State is 4-3. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Vaughn Weems 12-21 8-10 34, Ne’quan Brown 3-8 0-0 7, Tayshawn Colvin 0-2 0-0 0, Tautoko Wynyard 2-2 0-0 4, Bryce Henry 0-0 0-0 0, Deng Diew 8-13 1-2 19, Dace Pleasant 6-9 0-0 16, Mehmet Bener 0-2 2-4 2, Sam Marbury 4-8 0-0 8, Romell Russell 0-0 0-0 0, Jacori Ervin 2-2 0-0 4, Ajayi Simmons 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 37-68 11-16 94. 

WILLISTON STATE 

Wil Olson 4-9 0-0 9, Tyson Enget 0-1 0-0 0, Ian Johnson 3-5 0-0 7, Mekhi Marks 1-2 0-0 3, Rex Stirling 9-17 5-10 23, Richard Massey 0-2 0-0 0, Josiah McDonald 8-13 0-0 19, Carter Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Ajoydeji Iwaro 0-0 0-0 0, Eden Hobbs 2-4 0-0 4, Benjamin Yombi 1-7 0-0 3, Freedom Leon 2-2 1-1 5. Totals 30-63 6-11 73. 

Halftime — NIC 52-41. 3-point goals — NIC 9-18 (Weems 2-5, Brown 1-3, Diew 2-3, Pleasant 4-6, Bener 0-1), WSC 7-25 (Olson 1-6, Johnson 1-2, Marks 1-2, Massey 0-1, McDonald 3-8, Smith 0-1, Yombi 1-5). Rebounds — NIC 34 (Weems 9), WSC 25 (Stirling 5). Assists — NIC 16 (Weems, Marbury 5), WSC 17 (Enget 5). Team fouls — NIC 8, WSC 12. Fouled out — none.  

• WRESTLING

Four Cardinals finish

runner-up in Iowa

GRIMES, Iowa — Freshman Hoyt Hvass (133 pounds) and sophomores Noah Poe-Hatten (184) and Chandler Loveless (197) and Ray Griffin (285) finished runner-up for the Cardinals in the Freshman/Sophomore bracket of the Grand View Open. 

Sophomore Conan Northwind was sixth at 174 for NIC, the top-ranked team in the NJCAA preseason poll, which hosts Clackamas next Saturday at 6 p.m. 

• WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Williston State 74 

North Idaho 56

WILLISTON, N.D. — The Cardinals were limited to 26 second-half points in a loss to the Titons. 

“We were just down four points at halftime, but crumbled defensively in the second half,” NIC coach Nathan Covill said. “Williston came out and shot the ball really well.” 

Kylani Rookstool, a sophomore, had 33 points for NIC (1-3). 

“If it wasn’t for Kylani, we would have been in a lot of trouble,” Covill said. “We were playing good enough to stay in it, but right now, we’re not playing good enough defense to win a lot of games. We’ve got to have some kids step up, and that’s on me as a coach to get us prepared for that.” 

NIC hosts Casper (Wyo.) in its home opener on Thursday at 5 p.m. 

Williston State is 4-2. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Chloe Collin 2-7 2-2 6, Kylani Rookstool 11-17 8-9 33, Emmalee Secrest 1-6 0-0 3, Iratxe Amorrortu 0-2 1-2 1, Summer Faleafa 0-5 0-0 0, Larkin Christiansen 1-2 0-0 2, Ripeka Edwards 1-8 0-0 2, Molly Axell 1-5 0-0 3, Tayler Adams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-52 11-13 56.  

WILLISTON STATE 

Kylie Simpson 1-6 2-2 4, Allison Kunze 4-6 5-11 13, Allie Garcia 3-7 0-0 8, Jersey Berg 8-15, 2-2 19, Dzestrifa Rieksta 2-3 6-7 10, Lucia Bellido 2-7 1-2 5, Taylah Murtaugh 4-9 3-4 13, Hannah Briskey 1-1 0-0 2, Patience Grey 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-55 19-28 74. 

3-point goals — NIC 5-27 (Collin 0-5, Rookstool 3-5, Secrest 1-5, Amorrortu 0-1, Faleafa 0-3, Edwards 0-4, Axell 1-4), WSC 5-16 (Simpson 0-2, Garcia 2-5, Berg 1-3, Bellido 0-1, Murtaugh 2-5). Rebounds — NIC 25 (Rookstool 7), WSC 40 (Kunze 10). Assists — NIC 3 (Falaefa 2), WSC 15 (Murtaugh 4). Team fouls — NIC 19, WSC 17. Fouled out — Amorrortu.