NIC BASKETBALL: Toure nearly perfect for Cardinal men
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 6 months AGO
• MEN
COEUR d’ALENE — Since moving into the starting lineup, North Idaho College freshman Aly Toure has made the most of his chances.
On Saturday, he had plenty of those too.
Toure, a 6-foot-9 forward from Mali, had 20 points on 9 of 10 shooting and eight rebounds, just missing his third double-double in his last four games, as the Cardinals beat Colorado Northwestern 102-80 in a Scenic West Athletic Conference game at Rolly Williams Court on Saturday.
“He’s finally getting some confidence,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “He’s finally figuring out how to use his body at this level. He’s a really good player, but didn’t get a lot of in-game experience because he was behind another really good big at Wasatch Academy. Now that he understands it, he’s been killing it in league. He’s strong and rebounds the ball really well. Once he gets the ball into his hands, you’re not taking it out of his hands.”
Sophomore Ne’quan Brown had 19 points and eight rebounds for NIC (13-9, 3-4 SWAC), which sits in fourth place in league.
Jamison Thomson scored 21 points for Colorado Northwestern (4-18, 0-7).
NIC travels to face third-ranked Snow College on Thursday in Ephraim, Utah.
COLORADO NORTHWESTERN
Gibson Walton 4-6 0-0 10, Jaden Fitzhugh 4-6 0-0 12, Jordan Jones 3-11 0-0 7, Trey Johnson 4-12 4-4 15, Lincoln Johnson 0-4 0-0 0, Brandon Avance 2-3 2-2 7, Finn Powelson 2-4 4-4 8, Jamison Thomson 9-14 0-0 21. Totals 28-60 10-10 80.
NORTH IDAHO
Austin Ouko 5-9 2-2 15, Aly Toure 9-10 2-2 20, Nyale Robinson 0-1 0-0 0, Ne’quan Brown 7-15 2-2 19, Cody Wright 0-4 2-2 2, Vander Brown 1-2 0-0 3, Ace Arnold 4-6 2-2 13, Ajayi Simmons 5-9 0-0 11, Cason Miller 0-2 0-0 0, Sawyr Hansen 1-3 1-3 3, Gage Ontiveros 1-2 0-0 2, Justus Haseley 2-5 3-3 7, Jacori Ervin 3-5 1-3 7. Totals 38-73 15-18 102.
Halftime — NIC 50-35. 3-point goals — CNCC 14-31 (Walton 2-4, Fitzhugh 4-4, Jones 1-5, T. Johnson 3-8, L. Johnson 0-4, Avance 1-2, Powelson 0-1, Thomson 3-3), NIC 11-26 (Ouko 3-6, Robinson 0-1, N. Brown 3-5, V. Brown 1-2, Arnold 3-4, Simmons 1-4, Haseley 0-2). Rebounds — CNCC 21 (Thomson 5), NIC 42 (Toure, N. Brown 8). Assists — CNCC 14 (Jones 5), NIC 22 (N. Brown 6). Team fouls — CNCC 18, NIC 11. Fouled out — Walton, Thomson.
• WOMEN
North Idaho 76
Colorado Northwestern 42
COEUR d’ALENE — Sometimes, it’s good to have sophomore eyes on the court.
It ended up working out well for North Idaho College on Saturday.
Karsyn Freeman, a freshman from Adna, Wash., scored 19 points and added four rebounds and three assists for the Cardinals in a Scenic West Athletic Conference win over the Spartans of Rangely, Colo., at Rolly Williams Court.
“We weren’t really getting downhill as much in the first half, so (NIC sophomore) Summer (Faleafa) mentioned something about changing our sets on offense to open things up a little bit,” NIC coach Nathan Covill said. “By changing our looks, it allowed Karsyn to create for herself and others. And when she’s able to do that, we play a lot better.”
Chloe Collin, a sophomore from Brampton, Alberta, had 12 points, eight rebounds and four steals for NIC (8-12, 3-4 SWAC), which outrebounded Colorado Northwestern 41-17.
NIC, in fourth in the SWAC, travels to face Snow College on Thursday in Ephraim, Utah.
Shyann Farbes scored 13 points for Colorado Northwestern (1-21, 0-7).
COLORADO NORTHWESTERN
Alicia Denard 2-5 0-0 4, Shyann Farbes 6-10 1-2 13, Ariana Strain 0-3 0-0 0, Eden Erickson 1-2 0-0 2, Taylor Jones 3-10 4-10 10, Alivia Hutton 0-1 1-2 1, Anessa Maefield 0-1 1-2 1, Bayleigh Walling 2-7 0-0 5, Shunbaah Begay 0-0 0-0 0, Natalie Pineda 1-4 0-0 3, Zavriela Garcia 1-5 0-0 3. Totals 16-48 7-16 42.
NORTH IDAHO
Diana Nelson 3-5 1-2 7, Summer Faleafa 5-12 1-2 12, Karsyn Freeman 8-13 2-6 19, Ripeka Edwards 2-5 3-4 8, Chloe Collin 3-7 4-4 11, Molly Axell 2-6 0-0 5, Sari Murphy 4-6 2-4 10, Kaytie Aanstad 1-3 2-2 4. Totals 28-57 15-24 76.
Colo. Northwestern 4 7 14 17 — 42
North Idaho 20 18 19 19 — 76
3-point goals — CNCC 3-14 (Strain 0-3, Maefield 0-1, Walling 1-4, Pineda 1-3, Garcia 1-3), NIC 5-21 (Faleafa 1-6, Freeman 1-5, Edwards 1-4, Collin 1-2, Axell 1-3, Murphy 0-1). Rebounds — CNCC 17 (Denard 4), NIC 41 (Faleafa, Collin 8). Assists — CNCC 4 (Farbes, Begay 2), NIC 13 (Faleafa, Freeman, Collin, Murphy 3). Team fouls — CNCC 24, NIC 19. Fouled out — Axell.