NIC men edge Snow, advance to title game

Trey Burch-Manning scored 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds as the North Idaho men advanced to the Region 18 tournament title game with a 77-73 semifinal-win over Snow on Saturday in Twin Falls, Idaho.

The Cardinals (31-0) will play Salt Lake at 6:30 in Saturday’s championship game. North Idaho is 3-0 against Salt Lake (24-8) this season.

North Idaho built a 13-point halftime lead against the Badgers (15-17), and then had to withstand Snow’s second-half rally. The Cardinals’ B.J. Blake added 15 points and 10 rebounds and Braian Angola-Rodas chipped in 13 points.

Snow’s London Simonsen made 5 of 8 3-pointers and led all scorers with 28 points.

Women

Ma’ata Epenisa led five players in double figures with 17 points and added eight rebounds as Salt Lake blew open a close game with a 21-10 third-quarter run and beat North Idaho 59-45 in a Region 18 tournament semifinal game in Twin Falls. The loss ended the Cardinals’ season.

North Idaho (21-8) trailed by just three at halftime, but couldn’t get much going in the second half. The Cardinals had 10 second-half turnovers and made just 1 of 8 3-pointers. Shelby Cloninger led NIC with 23 points and eight rebounds.

The Cardinals were 0-4 against the Bruins (30-1) this season.