Nic Plowed Under Coach Williams’ Last Game Is First-Round Tourney Loss

Queue the unhappy ending.

North Idaho College’s Rolly Williams coached his last game on Wednesday, and Snow’s 108-85 Region 18 men’s basketball tournament thundering of his Cardinals wasn’t exactly his idea of a swell parting gift.

“It was like Murphy’s Law. When things started going wrong, everything went wrong,” said Williams, who retires following 35 seasons at NIC. His final club finished 25-6.

Forty-five minutes after the game, Williams walked alone with his thoughts down a long corridor at the spiffy new David O. McKay Events Center, an exit sign above his shoulder in the background. It wasn’t how he pictured his final season would end.

“I didn’t say anything (in the locker room),” Williams said. “There was nothing to say.”

Elsewhere, No. 5-seeded Southern Idaho downed No. 4 Eastern Utah 63-58, No. 2 Dixie crushed No. 7 Ricks 92-67 and top-seeded Utah Valley beat No. 8 Salt Lake 90-80. No. 6 Snow of Ephraim, Utah, which made 12 first-half 3-pointers en route to a 60-42 lead, plays Dixie in Friday’s semis. CSI faces Utah Valley.

Snow 108, NIC 85

Though disappointed, Williams was philosophical. One of the charms of basketball, he said, is its unpredictability.

He saw it last Saturday when NIC pounded Scenic West champion Utah Valley 110-77. He saw it again on Wednesday when five different Badgers accounted for 12-of-17 3-point shooting in the first half.

“It can be a funny game, but that’s what makes it interesting,” he said.

Tied at 11, Snow’s Andrew Mavis hit a 3 and Neal Geddes followed with another 3. Three minutes later, Pat McGrath knocked in consecutive 3s and Snow led 28-15.

NIC trailed by as many as 26 in the first half and 36 in the second.

“We haven’t shot better than that,” said Mavis, who made five 3-pointers for all of his points. Snow finished 17 of 31 on 3s.

“Cellular One has been paying us $5 for every 3 (as part of a fund-raiser),” Snow coach Jon Judkins said, “so we’re going to be pretty good in the budget this year.”

It mattered little whether NIC played man-to-man defense or a 1-3-1 trap. Neither slowed the Badgers, who led the conference during the season with 44-percent accuracy on 3s. Snow passed swiftly, drove when necessary and shot as if letting the ball touch the rim were against the rules.

“They couldn’t miss,” said NIC forward Troy Thompson, whose 4-for-14 shooting mirrored NIC’s 39-percent team effort.

Saturday’s easy win may have brewed overconfidence, Thompson said. “I kind of felt it coming,” he explained. “That (win) doesn’t mean anything at regionals.”

NIC trailed 62-46 before Snow went on a 19-0 run, fueled by three more 3-pointers.

The frustrated Cards played hard until the end, but made only minor inroads into Snow’s lead.

How bad was it for NIC?

In the first half, a perturbed Williams asked an official: “Where are you from?” The official answered with a whistle; he apparently hails from Technical City. It was Williams’ first “T” in two years.

Sophomore Eric Sanchez also was hit with a technical and freshman David Cunningham was ejected for throwing an elbow.

“It got frustrating because there were plenty of times we had a hand in their face and they still made the shots,” Sanchez said.

The women’s Region 18 tournament starts today, with fifth-seeded NIC playing No. 4 Ricks at 11 a.m. PST.

Snow 108, North Idaho 85

Snow (20-11) - Mavis 5-11 0-0 15, Barnes 5-13 4-5 14, Larson 1-1 5-8 8, Geddes 8-12 0-0 20, Carlston 2-3 5-6 10, Montgomery 2-4 4-4 8, Robinson 0-0 0 -0 0, Brimhall 2-6 1-4 5, Whiting 2-4 2- 2 7, Phillips 0-1 0-0 0, McGrath 8-16 0- 2 21, Allfrey 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 35-72 21-31 108.

North Idaho (25-6) - Thompson 4- 14 1-3 9, Sanchez 3-6 2-2 8, Kruiswyk 4- 9 0-0 8, Helm 2-4 2-2 6, McCoy 2-7 3-4 8, Hall 6-15 4-6 20, Dial 5-7 1-3 15, Cunningham 0-0 0-0 0, Rapier 1-3 0-0 2, Byrne 2-4 1-1 5, Barth 0-3 0-0 0, Robertson 2-7 0-2 4. Totals 31-79 14-24 85.

Half-Snow 60, NIC 42. 3-point goals-Snow 17-31 (Mavis 5-10, Larson 1- 1, Geddes 4-7, Carlston 1-1, Whitng 1-3, Phillips 0-1, McGrath 5-8), NIC 9-28 ( Thompson 0-4, Sanchez 0-2, Helm 0-1, McCoy 1-2, Hall 4-10, Dial 4-5, Rapier 0-1, Barth 0-3). Fouled out-Rapier, Byrne. Technical fouls-NIC coach Rolly Williams, Sanchez. Total fouls-Snow 22, NIC 25. Rebounds-Snow 51 (Barnes, Geddes each had 9), NIC 46 (Kruiswyk 8). Assists-Snow 25 (Carlston 8), NIC 13 (Sanchez 5).

So. Idaho 63, Eastern Utah 58

CSI (24-7) built an 18-point lead in the first half and needed every bit of it as CEU (23-8) rallied within a point in the second half.

Dixie 92, Ricks 67

The Rebels (27-4) rolled behind UNLV-bound center Keon Clark’s 21 points and eight blocked shots and Providence-bound Kevin Simpson’s 33 points. Ricks finished 15-17.

Utah Valley 90, South Lake 80

The host Wolverines (27-4) relied on Brad Willden’s 24 points and former NIC player Derrick Elliott’s 11 assists to handle the Bruins (16-5).

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