By JASON ELLIOTT 

Sports writer 

COEUR d’ALENE — In this league, there’s no such thing as a break. 

Not even for a second. 

Face one top-five team, another is waiting next. 

That’s life in the Scenic West Athletic Conference for North Idaho College right now. 

NIC sophomore Vaughn Weems, who leads the NJCAA with 29.5 points per game, scored a game-high 34 for the Cardinals (11-7, 1-2 SWAC), who battled back from an early 14-point deficit to cut the lead to 61-60 with 5:04 remaining before falling to fourth-ranked Salt Lake 80-69 on Saturday at Rolly Williams Court. 

“The preparation we had all week was great,” Weems said. “Coach Fred (Brown) preaches play off of two (feet) all the time, and I feel like that when I’m doing that, I’m at my best and the most explosive I can be on the court.” 

“We’ve got a lot of new bodies and some of the guys just don’t know how tough this league is,” NIC men’s coach Corey Symons said. “You can’t play from behind in this league. This league is so deep and good, and they’re a top-20 team in the country. You get down 12 in the first five minutes, and it’s tough to come back.”

Salt Lake is 14-5, 2-2. 

In the women’s game, NIC freshman Esmeralda Galindo scored 31 points for the Cardinals (9-8, 1-2 SWAC), who fought back from an early 21-7 deficit before the 19th-ranked Bruins (14-4, 3-1) pulled away late for a 71-61 win. 

NIC faces Snow on Thursday in Ephraim, Utah. The Badger men are the top-ranked team in this week’s NJCAA poll. 

MEN: Salt Lake jumped out to a 16-4 lead 4:55 into the game and led by as many as 14 in the first half before the Cardinals rallied to cut the deficit to 39-33 at halftime. 

Weems had 20 of his 34 in the second half. 

“They’re so talented and Corey does a good job of getting Weems opportunities,” said Salt Lake coach Dave Rice, the former UNLV coach. “We really keyed on him, and he still had 34 points. They’re so deep and they’ve got so many guys that can beat you."

“Vaughn’s a special player,” Symons said. “He can score without the ball and Coeur d’Alene got to see the best two players in the country with (Salt Lake’s) Xavier Edmonds going to TCU. He’s arguably the best player in the country and our community got to see two of the best players.” 

Edmonds led Salt Lake with 21 points. Mason Bendinger shot 7 of 9 for 16 points for the Bruins, who lost in overtime to the College of Southern Idaho on Wednesday in Twin Falls. 

Weems also had seven rebounds and three assists for the Cardinals. 

“He can do everything,” Rice said. “He can make a 3-pointer, so you’ve got to close the space around him, and then he’ll go by you. He’s strong and finishes and a multi-level scorer. He’s a very talented player and Corey utilizes him really well.” 

SALT LAKE 

Mason Bendinger 7-9 1-1 16, Luke Smellie 0-1 2-2 2, Sam Sivulich 1-5 0-0 3, Coen Collier 1-6 0-0 3, Xavier Edwards 5-11 10-10 21, Trey Brown 1-4 2-2 4, Kade Rice 0-0 0-0 0, Ethan Copeland 5-11 1-2 15, Chudi Anosike 3-56 3-4 11, Alvin Jackson III 1-2 2-2 5, Devin Carlson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-55 21-23 80. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Vaughn Weems 10-19 13-14 34, Ne’quan Brown 1-6 3-7 5, Tayshawn Colvin 1-2 0-0 2, Jacori Ervin 1-1 0-1 2, Bryce Henry 3-7 0-2 8, Deng Diew 0-1 0-0 0, Dace Pleasant 2-5 3-5 8, Sam Marbury 1-3 1-3 4, Tautoko Wynyard 0-0 0-0 0, Ajayi Simmons 2-5 2-2 6. Totals 21-49 22-34 69.  

Halftime — SLCC 39-33. 3-point goals — SLCC 11-34 (Bendinger 1-2, Smellie 0-1, Sivulich 1-4, Collier 1-5, Edmonds 1-4, Brown 0-2, Copeland 4-10, Anosike 2-4, Jackson III 1-2), NIC 5-26 (Weems 1-6, Brown 0-5, Colvin 0-1, Henry 2-3, Diew 0-1, Pleasant 1-4, Marbury 1-3, Simmons 0-3). Rebounds — SLCC 24 (Collier 7), NIC 32 (Weems, Henry 7). Assists — SLCC 11 (Smellie, Edmonds, Anosike 2), NIC 10 (Weems, Marbury 3). Team fouls — SLCC 29, NIC 18. Fouled out — Sivulich, Collier. 

WOMEN

Salt Lake 71, North Idaho 61: The Cardinals fell into a 21-7 hole after the first quarter, but outscored the Bruins 19-7 to cut it to 28-26 at halftime. 

With the game tied 51-51, Salt Lake’s Ahnica Russell-Brown hit a 3-pointer to give the Bruins the lead for good with 5:04 remaining. 

“Our ladies played extremely hard,” NIC coach Nathan Covill said. “In that second quarter, after starting the way they did in the first, it would have been easy for a lot of teams to pack it in, but I haven’t seen that from this team this year. I knew we’d fight back, but where I’m struggling to get them is that with Essie (Galindo) in the starting lineup, how to get them to play off her and let Essie be Essie and make sure others are involved. It was an extremely gritty performance.” 

NIC made it a 54-53 game before a late Bruin run put the game away. 

“I thought we were there, then turnovers came back and bit us in the butt,” Covill said. “I’m really proud of our team right now. We need to find a way to win games that people don’t think we can and help ourselves out. We’ll get there, but we need to figure some things out. But I’m proud of the way they fought against a really physcial team.” 

Thays Da Silva scored 19 points for Salt Lake. 

“It was more of what we weren’t doing,” Salt Lake coach Marcilina Grayer said. “We had too many girls that were trying to go 1-on-1 and weren’t shifting the defense or defending the way we should have been. The energy changed and we had some key players on the bench. NIC can shoot it and they ran some good stuff and we got a little lost.” 

Sophomore Kylani Rookstool scored 15 points for NIC. 

“We just talked about not gambling at halftime,” Grayer said. “We were a lot more solid in our sets and played a lot better defensively in the second half.” 

NIC plays at Snow on Thursday.

SALT LAKE 

Simran Williams 6-13 0-0 13, Ahnica Russell-Brown 3-6 1-2 8, Nari Powers 1-2 2-2 5, Tahys Da Silva 7-12 0-0 19, Laura Di Stefano 5-9 4-5 14, Fabiana Poindujour 0-0 0-0 0, Blanche Toualeu 0-0 0-0 Autumn Agnew 0-3 0-0 0, Analeise Maharaj 0-1 0-0 0, Ines Babaya 0-1 0-0 0, Jeanne Rodriguez 4-4 4-4 12. Totals 26-51 11-13 71. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Chloe Collin 1-2 0-0 3, Kylani Rookstool 3-6 8-10 15, Esmeralda Galindo 10-22 9-10 31, Iratxe Amorrortu 2-6 0-0 4, Summer Faleafa 0-1 0-0 0, Tiarnee Smith 2-4 0-0 4, Ripeka Edwards 1-1 0-0 2, Emmalee Secrest 0-0 2-2 2, Elisa Holakeituai 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-43 19-22 61. 

Salt Lake    21    7    16    27    —    71 

North Idaho    7    19    14    21    —    61 

3-point goals — SLCC 8-15 (Williams 1-3, Russell-Brown 1-3, Powers 1-1, Da Silva 5-7, Di Stefano 0-1), NIC 4-12 (Collin 1-1, Rookstool 1-3, Galindo 2-5, Amorrortu 0-2, Faleafa 0-1). Rebounds — SLCC 22 (Di Stefano 7), NIC 25 (Galindo 7). Assists — SLCC 10 (Williams 3), NIC 5 (Galindo 2). Team fouls — SLCC 23, NIC 15. Fouled out — none. 

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press North Idaho College freshman forward Jacori Ervin pulls in a loose ball during the first half of Saturday's game at Rolly Williams Court.
  

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press North Idaho College guard Esmeralda Galindo shoots over Salt Lake guard Ahnica Russell-Brown during the third quarter of Saturday's Scenic West Athletic Conference game at Rolly Williams Court.