NIC BASKETBALL: Snow knocks Cardinal women from playoff hunt

• WOMEN

COEUR d’ALENE — It's been a mild winter in North Idaho, but there was just enough Snow on Thursday to eliminate the North Idaho Cardinals from postseason contention. 

NIC managed just 27 points in the final three quarters, and was outscored 29-7 in the fourth quarter of a 71-52 loss to the Snow College Badgers of Ephraim, Utah, in Scenic West Athletic Conference play at Rolly Williams Court. 

“When you score half of your points in the first quarter, and the same amount the rest of the game, you’re not going to win a lot of games,” NIC coach Nathan Covill said. “Credit to (Snow) coach Zu (Zuleika Grinsell), she’s had my number the last few years. She had an answer for everything we did and her kids played hard.” 

With the win, Snow (18-11, 6-8 SWAC) holds the tiebreaker over NIC (10-17, 5-9) for the fourth and final playoff spot to the Region 18 Championships starting March 12 at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls. CSI (26-3, 12-2) clinched the conference title with a 66-63 win over Utah State-Eastern (19-10, 10-4) earlier on Thursday in Twin Falls.

For the first five minutes Thursday, it was going NIC's way.

A 12-0 run to start. 

A 25-8 lead after the first quarter. 

Then, just as suddenly, the tide turned. 

“We knew we had to win this game,” Covill said. “Defensively, they pressured Karsyn (Freeman) and we’ve struggled all year to initiate offense when that happens. They really killed us on the ball screen, especially in the fourth quarter.” 

Freeman, a freshman from Adna, Wash., had 15 points for NIC, which shot 17 of 44 from the field.

Lala Baldwin and Avery Allred scored 13 points each for Snow.

NIC closes out the season at home against Utah State-Eastern of Price, Utah, on Saturday at 1 p.m.

SNOW  

Sara Aoki 4-7 2-3 10, Dalana Jakoljevic 1-5 1-2 3, Sydnee Smith 4-9 3-4 11, Lala Baldwin 5-13 3-4 13, Avery Allred 5-11 3-4 13, Megan Johnson 4-6 10-0 9, Seini Tuipulotu 3-4 0-2 6, Hartlynn Richins 1-2 0-0 2, Kysa Shippen 2-6 0-0 4. Totals 29-63 12-19 71. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Chloe Collin 0-3 2-2 2, Karsyn Freeman 5-9 3-4 15, Diana Nelson 3-5 2-2 8, Ripeka Edwards 1-2 1-2 4, Summer Faleafa 7-15 1-2 18, Molly Axell 0-1 0-0 0, Liv Whitemarsh 1-4 0-0 2, Sari Murphy 0-1 0-0 0, Kaytie Aanstad 0-4 3-4 3. Totals 17-44 12-16 52. 

Snow        8    23    11    29    —    71 

North Idaho    25    8    12    7    —    52 

3-point goals — Snow 1-12 (Smith 0-1, Baldwin 0-7, Johnson 1-1, Shippen 0-3), NIC 6-19 (Collin 0-2, Freeman 2-4, Edwards 1-2, Faleafa 3-7, Axell 0-1, Whitemarsh 0-3). Rebounds — Snow 32 (Smith 9), NIC 27 (Edwards 8). Assists — Snow 12 (Baldwin 4), NIC 11 (Faleafa 4). Team fouls — Snow 23, NIC 15. Fouled out — Jakoljevic, Aanstad. 

• MEN

North Idaho 79 

Snow 69 

COEUR d’ALENE — This is the time of year when you want to be at your best, play well and get some big-time wins. 

Thursday was that night for the Cardinals. 

Ne’quan Brown, a sophomore from Tacoma, Wash., had 27 points and eight rebounds for the Cardinals, who upset the Badgers, the top-ranked team in this week’s NJCAA poll, at Rolly Williams Court in a Scenic West Athletic Conference game. 

Ajayi Simmons, a sophomore from Seattle, Wash., had 18 points and four rebounds and freshman Austin Ouko, of Switzerland, had 11 points and five rebounds for NIC, which led 37-34 at halftime. 

“We’ve been preaching the buy-in with our guys all year,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “Our three-headed monster of Ne’quan, Ajayi and Austin, they all played great tonight. Our bigs really did a good job tonight, and everything finally clicked.” 

NIC (16-13, 6-8 SWAC) concludes the regular season at home against Utah State-Eastern (21-8, 8-6) on Saturday at 3 p.m. Snow (27-2, 12-2) travels to Southern Idaho (27-2, 13-1), with the winner earning the right to host the Region 18 Championships starting next Friday. The teams have split the previous two matchups this season. 

“This is when we want to play our best,” Symons said. “We’ve just got to keep it going next week.” 

Brock McClure scored 17 points for Snow, which shot 25 of 70 from the field.

SNOW 

Blake Bahr 1-1 0-0 2, McCaden Adams 4-13 3-4 13, Sean Felts 4-13 2-2 10, Brock McClure 6-17 3-4 17, Aaron Bliss 1-4 0-0 2, Max Toombs 1-3 0-0 3, Sam Sivulich 3-10 3-4 9, Kyle Lemke 3-6 3-4 9, James Rust 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 25-70 14-18 69. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Ne’quan Brown 11-22 1-2 27, Nyale Robinson 1-6 7-8 9, Ajayi Simmons 6-12 3-3 18, Austin Ouko 4-11 1-1 11, Aly Toure 0-1 2-2 2, Vander Brown 0-0 1-1 1, Shamar Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Cason Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Sawyr Hansen 0-1 0-0 0, Gage Ontiveros 2-3 3-4 7, Justus Haseley 0-0 2-4 2, Jacori Ervin 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 25-58 20-25 79. 

Halftime — NIC 37-34. 3-point goals — Snow 5-26 (Adams 2-7, Felts 0-2, McClure 2-8, Bliss 0-1, Toombs 1-3, Sivulich 0-4, Rust 0-1), NIC 9-26 (N. Brown 4-8, Robinson 0-4, Simmons 3-7, Ouko 2-5, Miller 0-1, Hansen 0-1). Rebounds — Snow 38 (Felts 10), NIC 31 (N. Brown 8). Assists — Snow 8 (Bahr 5), NIC 9 (Robinson 3). Team fouls — Snow 21, NIC 17. Fouled out — Toombs. 

    KYLE DISHAW PHOTOGRAPHY North Idaho College sophomore forward Ne'quan Brown drives to the basket as Snow's Sean Felts defends during the second half of Thursday's Scenic West Athletic Conference game at Rolly Williams Court.