Cardinals Basketball Teams Face Foreign Rivals
For the next couple of nights, it’s North Idaho College basketball versus the globe.
The NIC women debut tonight against Mount Royal, of Calgary, Alberta, in Christianson Gym in Coeur d’Alene.
On Saturday night, the Cardinals’ men tangle with the talented Townsville Suns, a professional team from Australia, in an exhibition game.
Both games are at 7:30.
NIC’s women have three returners who played substantial minutes last year in center Sid Schraufnagel and guards Angie Dickson and Aundie Howerton. Second-year coach Greg Crimp has stocked the squad with quality freshmen.
At least, that’s what he hopes to see, beginning tonight.
“I like our depth, we’re more athletic and we have more scoring ability (than last year),” Crimp said. “Overall, we have a little more enthusiasm for the game.
“I’m really anxious to get rolling. I’m very happy with what I’ve seen to this point. I need to see if it translates against other people.”
Mount Royal has a head start on NIC, having already split four games.
The Cardinal men take a step up in competition against Townsville after romping past Southern Alberta 103-56 last week.
“It should be a great game for the fans,” NIC coach Rolly Williams said. “They should come in and kick our butts.”
Williams expects Townsville to be fundamentally sound and physically stout since some Suns players are in their upper 20s.
“They’re used to playing a gruelling schedule,” Williams said. “It’s hard to say how we’ll react.”
Townsville will play several area schools, including Gonzaga on Sunday and Idaho on Monday.
Cards on the run
The women’s cross country team competes at the national junior college meet Saturday in Alfred, N.Y. The Cards received an at-large berth after finishing third in Region 18.
Two Cardinals men, Ken Kimura and Tim Panckhurst, also qualified.
Volleyball regionals
The North Idaho College volleyball team takes an 11-29 record into the Region 18 Tournament this weekend in Rexburg, Idaho.
NIC faces Snow this morning. A win would lead to an afternoon date with No. 1-ranked Southern Idaho (57-0), the defending national champion. The championship match is Saturday.
, DataTimes