NIC ROUNDUP: Cardinal men, women fall in home finales

• MEN'S BASKETBALL

COEUR d’ALENE — North Idaho College missed a game-winning 3-pointer with one second remaining as the visiting Utah State-Eastern Eagles of Price, Utah, defeated the Cardinals 72-71 in the Scenic West Athletic Conference finale for both programs at Rolly Williams Court on Saturday. 

“We had a shot to win it, got an offensive rebound and had a shot that didn’t fall for us,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “But I really like where we’re going heading into the tournament. The guys came out and competed and had a chance to win it. We just fell a little short.”

The result did not affect NIC's seeding for this week's Region 18 Tournament in Twin Falls.

NIC (16-14, 6-9 SWAC) will be seeded fourth and face top seed College of Southern Idaho (28-2, 14-1) in the semifinals Friday at 6:30 p.m. PST. CSI beat Snow 71-66 on Saturday in Twin Falls to capture the conference title and host the tournament.

Utah State-Eastern (22-8, 9-6) will be the third seed to regionals and face second-seeded Snow (27-3, 12-3) in the other semifinale. The championship game is next Saturday at 2 p.m. 

Ne’quan Brown, a sophomore from Tacoma, Wash., and Ajayi Simmons, a sophomore from Seattle, had 20 points each for NIC.  

Ike Palmer scored 24 points for Utah State-Eastern. 

UTAH STATE-EASTERN 

Ike Palmer 9-15 6-9 24, Liam Davis 3-10 2-2 8, Robbie Yates 3-8 4-5 13, Bowen Davies 1-5 1-1 3, Isaac Castagnetto 3-7 2-2 9, Kayin Turner 3-4 0-0 7, Adam Grissom 1-2 0-0 2, Weston Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Easton Duft 0-0 0-0 0, Ethen Stoddard 2-3 2-2 6. Totals 25-55 17-21 72. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Ne’quan Brown 6-11 6-8 20, Vander Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Ajayi Simmons 9-19 1-2 20, Austin Ouko 5-15 2-2 16, Jacori Ervin 1-2 0-0 2, Nyale Robinson 1-5 0-0 3, Ace Arnold 0-3 3-3 3, Cody Wright 0-2 0-0 0, Cason Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Sawyr Hansen 0-0 0-0 0, Gage Ontiveros 1-3 0-0 2, Justus Haseley 0-0 0-0 0, Aly Toure 1-2 3-6 5. Totals 24-63 15-21 71. 

Halftime — USE 40-33. 3-point goals — USE 5-15 (Palmer 0-2, Davis 0-2, Yates 3-7, Castagnetto 1-2, Turner 1-2), NIC 8-32 (N. Brown 2-5, Simmons 1-8, Ouko 4-11, Robinson 1-3, Arnold 0-3, Wright 0-1, Miller 0-1). Rebounds — USE 24 (Yates 5), NIC 45 (Simmons 9). Assists — USE 8 (Palmer, Turner 3), NIC 9 (N. Brown, Robinson 3). Team fouls — USE 23, NIC 19. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — N. Brown. 

• WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Utah State-Eastern 64 

North Idaho 49 

COEUR d’ALENE — The Cardinals concluded the season with a Scenic West Athletic Conference loss to the Eagles of Price, Utah, at Rolly Williams Court. 

Karsyn Freeman, a freshman from Adna, Wash., had 16 points and three assists for NIC, which finished 10-18, 5-10. The Cardinals were eliminated from postseason contention Thursday when they lost to Snow.

Utah State-Eastern (20-10, 11-4) will be the second seed to the Region 18 Tournament March 12-13 at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls and face third-seeded Salt Lake (21-9, 10-5). 

Top-seeded CSI (26-4, 12-3) will face Snow (19-11, 7-8) of Ephraim, Utah, in the other semifinal. 

UTAH STATE-EASTERN 

Avery Sanders 0-7 0-0 0, Addasyn Scrivner 3-6 4-6 10, Marlee Piper 4-18 1-2 19, Skylie Barker 9-16 2-2 25, Alyssa Whittaker 1-8 5-6 7, Addison Tanner 3-4 1-3 7, Brynn Wagner 0-0 0-0 0, Mia Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Amiah Timothy 0-0 0-0 0, Anaiya Nelson 2-4 1-1 6, Logyn Howell 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-67 14-20 64. 

NORTH IDAHO 

Chloe Collin 4-14 1-2 10, Karsyn Freeman 7-16 1-3 16, Ripeka Edwards 1-5 0-0 3, Molly Axell 2-9 2-2 7, Summer Faleafa 2-7 0-0 4, Diana Nelson 0-3 0-0 0, Liv Whitemarsh 1-1 0-0 2, Sari Murphy 2-2 0-0 5, Kaytie Aanstad 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 20-59 4-7 49. 

Utah State-Eastern    14    16    25    9    —    64 

North Idaho        17    8    14    10    —    49 

3-point goals — USE 6-28 (Sanders 0-4, Pieper 0-5, Barker 5-10, Whittaker 0-4, Tanner 0-1, Nelson 1-3, Howell 0-1), NIC 5-19 (Collin 1-5, Freeman 1-3, Edwards 1-2, Axell 1-6, Faleafa 0-2, Murphy 1-1). Rebounds — USE 43 (Pieper 10), NIC 34 (Collin 12). Assists — USE 10 (Sanders, Williams 3), NIC 11 (Collin, Freeman 3). Team fouls — USE 9, NIC 17. Fouled out — none.  

• SOFTBALL

North Idaho 14-9 

Spokane 12-6 

SPOKANE — Maya Perry, a freshman from Linden, Utah, hit a two-run double and finished with three RBIs in the first game for the Cardinals in a nonconference sweep of the Sasquatch at Spokane Falls Community College. 

NIC (7-10) was the designated home team for the games against Spokane (4-4). 

Aspen Roberts, a freshman from Riverton, Utah, hit a three-run home run in the second inning of the opener for NIC. 

In the nightcap, sophomore Charlie Stern hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning and sophomore Alli Drake, who scored the go-ahead run to make it 5-4 the fifth inning on a wild pitch, had a two-run single in the sixth for NIC. 

NIC is scheduled to host Snow of Ephraim, Utah, to open Scenic West Athletic Conference play on Friday at Memorial Field. 

FIRST GAME 

Spokane    006    123    0    —    12    11    3 

North Idaho    272    012    x    —    14    11    1 

Kynlea Toner, Samantha Rensvold (6) and Zoie Maughan; Makenna Webber, Elizabeth Hatch (6) and Chloe Hearrell.  

HITS: SC — Rensvold, Cooke, Stewart 2, Triplett 3, Oergel, Holm 2, Lapano. NIC — Perry, Hearrell 2, Drake, Roberts, Stern 3, Magallon, Hanchey 2. 2B — Cooke, Triplett, Perry, Drake, Stern. HR — Triplett, Roberts, Magallon. 

SECOND GAME  

Spokane    100    300    2    —    6    11    1 

North Idaho    001    242    x    —    9    10    2 

Shelby Swanson, Samantha Rensvold and Zoie Maughan; Lilly McNett and Chloe Hearrell. 

HITS: SC — Rensvold, Hernandez 2, Hyndman 3, Stewart 2, Oergel, Maughan, Lapano. NIC — Perry, Hearrell, Drake 2, Roberts, Stern, McClaran, Hanchey 3. 2B — Hernandez, Stewart, Roberts, McClaran, Hanchey. 3B — Oergel. HR — Stern.