Win against Snow puts NIC at tie for first

COEUR d'ALENE — Look who's tied for first place in the Scenic West?

The North Idaho Cardinals, after using a strong defensive second half to roar past the Badgers at the Horne Activity Center.

NIC (20-6, 6-2 SWAC) is tied for first with College of Southern Idaho and Salt Lake Community College. The top four teams advance to the Region 18 tournament in early March, and the SWAC champ hosts.

"This is a huge win for us," NIC coach Corey Symons said. "This puts us in a good spot to make the regional tournament, and maybe host."

Dante Sawyer of NIC hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 3 minutes left against Snow (10-5, 5-4), which won 77-75 at NIC last month.

The Cardinals trailed 42-37 at halftime, then held the Badgers to 27 points and 27% shooting in the second half.

"We really did an unbelievable job on the defensive end in the second half," Symons said. "We just locked in defensively. Kyle Karstetter did an unbelievable job, and Jalen Skalskiy (16 rebounds) cleaned up on the glass."

Sawyer finished with 19 points, and Vaughn Weems had 18 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Dylan Jones led Snow with 20 points.

NIC plays at Salt Lake on Saturday.

NORTH IDAHO

Austin Johnson 4-13 1-2 10, Cobi Campbell 2-9 4-7 10, Kyle Karstetter 1-3 0-0 3, Dante Sawyer 7-15 3-4 19, Jalen Skalskiy 2-8 1-2 5, Terin Johnson 4-5 1-3 9, Vaughn Weems 8-11 1-1 18. Totals 28-64 11-19 74.

SNOW

Mark Brown 2-7 0-0 4, Colin Christensen 4-11 2-4 11, Isaac Finlinson 3-13 1-2 7, Dylan Jones 8-18 1-2 20, Max Triplett 3-8 7-8, 13, Gaige Savage 2-4 0-0 5, Coleman Ford 1-4 0-03, Isaac Garrett 3-6 0-0 6. Totals 26-71 11-16 69.

Halftime — Snow 42-37. 3-point goals — NIC 7-24 (A. Johnson 1-7, Campbell 2-7, Karstetter 1-3, Sawyer 2-4, Skalskiy 0-2, Weems 1-1), Snow 6-30 (Brown 0-2, Christensen 1-4, Finlinson 0-7, Jones 3-9, Triplett 0-1, Savage 1-3, Ford 1-3, Garrett 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 46 (Skalskiy 16), Snow 42 (Triplett 10). Assists — NIC 12 (Campbell, Karstetter, Skalskiy 3), Snow 13 (Triplett 4). Fouled out — Garrett. Total fouls — NIC 14, Snow 18.

To view the full article, please visit the CDA Press at this link.