Area roundup: North Idaho men advance to Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament final

RayQuan Evans and his North Idaho Cardinals are headed to the Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament title game.

Evans finished with 29 points, seven rebounds and three steals Saturday and NIC (24-8) held off the Portland Panthers 79-73 in the day’s second semifinal at Everett Community College.

NIC will meet Peninsula (22-10) in the final, set for 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Peninsula topped Linn-Benton 89-75 in the other semifinal.

Evans finished 10 of 12 from the free-throw line to guide the team’s 20-for-31 performance. Charles Williams added 15 points, hitting 5 of 8 from the field.

The Cardinals received a strong effort from their bench. Aushanti Potts-Woods and Seth Christiaens scored 11 points apiece, and Iain McLaughlin had nine rebounds.

KJ Bosco had 17 points for the Panthers (26-6), who outscored NIC 39-9 on 3-pointers. Portland shot 13 of 36 from long range.

Baseball

(16) UCLA 8, Washington State 5: Jake Hirabayashi capped a fourth-run eighth with a two-run single, leading the Bruins (12-4, 2-0 Pac-12) past the Cougars (4-11, 0-2) in Los Angeles.

UCLA tied the game at 5 with Daniel Amaral’s RBI double in the eighth. Jeremy Ydens followed with an RBI single.

Justin Harrer hit a two-run homer and Blake Clanton followed with a solo shot during a five-run third to give WSU a 5-1 lead.

WSU’s Dillon Plew finished 3 for 5 with one run and one RBI.

Pepperdine 11, Gonzaga 8: Matthew Kanfer’s two-run double to left-center highlighted a six-run fifth and the visiting Waves (9-10, 1-1 West Coast Conference) held off the Bulldogs (10-8, 1-1).

The Zags scored once in the ninth and had the potential tying run at the plate when Daniel Fredrickson flied out to center.

Washington 1, Arizona 0: Kaiser Weiss singled up the middle on a 3-2 count in the bottom of the ninth to give the Huskies (9-8, 2-0 Pac-12) a win over the visiting Wildcats (10-8, 0-2).

UW starter Lucas Knowles allowed three hits in 7 2/3 innings, striking out four and walking two.

Pacific Lutheran 6, Whitworth 5 (13): Jacob Bockelie homered to left with one out in the 13th to give the Lutes (10-8, 8-2 Northwest Conference) a win over the Pirates (10-8, 5-2) to open a doubleheader in Tacoma.

The second game was postponed by darkness in the eighth with PLU leading 15-7. It will be completed Sunday morning before the regularly schedule series finale.

Bockelie finished 4 for 6 with three runs and two RBIs. The Lutes forced extra innings with a three-run ninth, capped by Marques Carlson’s two-out, two-run single.

Softball

Whitworth 7-8, Pacific Lutheran 1-7: Pinch hitter Maria Smith drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh to give the Pirates (12-8, 5-3 Northwest Conference) a sweep over the visiting Lutes (8-12, 3-7) at Marks Field.

Madelyn Carlson (9-3) pitched a five-hitter in the opening-game win, allowing no earned runs. Allie Rude hit a solo homer in the fifth for a 5-0 lead, and Kelsey Downey capped the scoring with a two-run single in the sixth.

The Pirates’ Sara Gayer finished 4 for 4 with two RBIs in the second game and scoring the winning run. Chelsey Hayes’ RBI triple started Whitworth’s five-run fifth for a 7-6 lead.

(13) Arizona State 2, (1) Washington 0: Giselle Juarez (8-1) pitched a three-hitter, striking out 11 and walking two, and the Sun Devils (23-3) opened Pac-12 play in Tempe, Arizona, by handing the top-ranked Huskies (28-1) their first loss of the season.

Danielle Gibson’s two-out, two-run double to center in the first provided the scoring.

UW’s Gabbie Plain (9-1) scattered four hits.

North Idaho 14-10, Big Bend 4-3: Madi Mott pitched a three-hitter in the opener, and Ashlyn Winn and Bailey Cavanaugh drove in three runs apiece in the second game as the Cardinals (13-1, 4-0 NWAC) swept the Vikings (9-7, 0-2) in Moses Lake.

Mott, Kayla Curtan and Kennedy Anderson homered for NIC in the opener.

Track and field

Eastern Washington’s men and women combined to win 18 events and dominate dual scoring at Whitworth’s Buc Scoring Invite.

EWU’s Alexis Rolan won the women’s 100-meter run in 12.22 seconds and the long jump at 18 feet, 6 1/2 inches.

The Eagles’ Keshun McGee won the men’s triple jump (48-7 1/2) and long jump (23-0). EWU’s Scott Miller won the shot put (53-3 1/2) and discus (161-3)

Whitworth’s Kameha Medallada won the women’s 200 with a season-best 25.77 and the host Pirates picked up eight victories.

In dual scoring, Whitworth’s men and women swept every team except EWU.

Whitworth’s Kayla Leland won the women’s 1,500 and posted a top-three national time (11:11.53) in the steeplechase.

For Whitworth’s men, Nick McGill won the high jump (6-1 1/2) and Andrew Bloom (213-0) took the javelin.

• Nick Johnson (Gonzaga Prep) won the men’s 110 hurdles to lead Washington State’s efforts at the USC Trojan Invitational in Los Angeles. Johnson ran a lifetime-best (non-wind-aided) 14.26. WSU won the men’s 4x100 relay in 40.82. Greer Alsop won the women’s triple jump at 40-5.

Women’s golf

Sophie Hausmann tied for ninth place and led Idaho to seventh place at the Hawkeye El Tigre Invitational in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico.

Hausmann completed three round at 5-over-par 221, 11 shots behind medalist Haley Moore of team champion Arizona (11-over 875). Idaho shot 900.

Women’s rowing

Gonzaga’s varsity 8 boat picked up a win during the Hornet Invitational on Lake Natoma outside Sacramento, California.

The Zags completed the 2,000-meter course in 6 minutes, 40.4 seconds for a big gap on San Diego State (6:45.3) and host Sacramento State (6:48.9).

GU’s second varsity 8 (6:52.0) also won.