Jim Meehan

There's a simple explanation for why the Idaho men's basketball team lost to Montana State on Saturday night. Why? Because the Vandals weren't playing Northern Arizona or Eastern Washington.

Bad things, the saying goes, come in threes. For Idaho men's basketball coach Joe Cravens, he had two bad deals - his daughters' cat died and he found out he owed the IRS $6,000 - prior to Thursday's game with Weber State, a dangerous 3-point shooting team.

Community Colleges of Spokane fired five quick passes, smartly attacking the angles against North Idaho College's zone trap. The result: NIC recovered, swiped the basketball and scored a layup at the other end.

NIC's Shawna Rainer pulls up for a jumper before Heather Brandt and the CCS defense can react. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

A reflective David Cunningham refuses to abondon his roots. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

So many times North Idaho College was on the verge of turning a mini-run into a full-fledged comeback. Then came a turnover, an unkind bounce off the rim or a missed foul shot.

Eric Sanchez is in the North Idaho College men's basketball lineup because he is a suffocating defender, a relentless rebounder and he plays the game with the throttle floored. He did all those things on Thursday night - and added a career-high 24 points as NIC destroyed Colorado Northwestern 91-54 at Christianson Gym.

Idaho's Jason Jackman, left, is the Vandals' most consistent inside threat and a big concern for Eastern Washington. Photo by Associated Press

It's the nicest statistic Idaho athletic director Pete Liske has seen in quite some time. Idaho's 252 student-athletes had an average grade-point average of 2.965 for fall semester, Liske said. "That's very, very impressive," Liske said. "We've just done a great job all the way down the line. It's nice because there hasn't been any slack competitively in any way."

It isn't college football season - not even time for spring football yet - but Idaho already has an interesting situation developing at quarterback. UCLA's Ryan Fien is now Idaho's Ryan Fien. He has transferred to Idaho and will begin the new semester on Tuesday. Fien will have one year of eligibility. He cannot redshirt. Idaho's quarterback had been expected to be junior-to-be Brian Brennan or sophomore-to-be Robert Scott.

North Idaho College was leading Walla Walla by 23 points at halftime and NIC men's basketball coach Rolly Williams was exercising his constitutional right of freedom of speech. "He was saying that we weren't doing a good job defensively, which we weren't," sophomore guard Steve Helm said. "So he got on us."

Coach Joe Cravens' Idaho Vandals appear to be in the scramble for the Big Sky Conference men's basketball title. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

Former Lake City and Coeur d'Alene High basketball star Melissa Dodge is "doing well" after having emergency surgery Sunday night in Rhode Island, according to her father, Mike. "She had what the doctor diagnosed as acute appendicitis and when that was removed, they found a little tumor," said Mike Dodge, who, along with his wife, Sally, traveled to South County Memorial Hospital in Wakefield, R.I., on Monday. "We won't know until Thursday or Friday, but they, and we, are hopeful it's benign." Melissa Dodge, who started on three state championship teams, including Lake City's 1994-95 titlists, is a freshman back-up forward at the University of Vermont. She'll be hospitalized about 10 days.

New looks are becoming old hat for the Idaho men's basketball team. The Vandals' roster seems to change by the day, and Friday was no exception, but it mattered little as Idaho overwhelmed Rocky Mountain College 100-68 at the Kibbie Dome.

1. Cosman Bishop whose lower legs were amputated when he was a child, worked his way out of this headlock to defeat Dusty Dexter in the second round of the Tri-State Tournament. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review 2. Bishop, squared off against Dexter, thrives on the sport's one-to-one competition.

If the turnovers, technical fouls, botched easy shots and players mindlessly stepping out of bounds didn't capture the essence of the Idaho-Washington State men's basketball game, then referee Mike Peterson did. "Is it just me," a confused Peterson relayed during a break at the scorer's table, "or has a bunch of weird stuff happened tonight?"

It doesn't take a doctorate in basketball-ology to understand it's easier to make a free throw than a 3-pointer. The Lake City High School boys buried 34 of 41 free throws - including 18 straight during a fourth-quarter stretch - in Friday night's 89-73 non-conference win over Nampa, which casted up 30 3-point attempts.

Leading scorer Troy Thompson of North Idaho College drives to succeed, on and off the court. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Leading scorer Shawna Rainier will help the North Idaho women shoot for the Scenic West Conference basketball title. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Montana's Yohanse Manzanaerez, left, and Marty Duffin shut down Charles Bostick of Georgia Southern. Photo by Associated Press

College women It didn't surprise North Idaho College women's basketball coach Greg Crimp that forward Shawna Rainer made 13 field goals on Saturday. It was Rainer's eight misses that slightly confused him. "She's shooting so well, I expect everything she shoots to go in," a smiling Crimp said after watching Rainer score 29 points in the Cardinals' 73-50 stomping of Big Bend at Christianson Gym.

Earlier this season, Troy Thompson was working diligently to impress college basketball coaches. Unfortunately, his own coach, North Idaho College's Rolly Williams, wasn't one of them.

There are not many firsts left for Rolly Williams to accomplish after 35 years as North Idaho College men's basketball coach. But here's one: NIC is hosting its first tournament - the Cardinal Classic - tonight and Saturday. "It's just something some people thought they might like to see and they always ask me about it," said Williams, who will retire after this season. "It's a nice occasion to bring people together."

For some curious reason, Idaho's volleyball team is visiting Ames, Iowa, to meet Iowa State at 5:30 PST tonight in the NCAA Tournament. The 21st-rated Vandals (28-4) are the only ranked team to be packing their luggage for the first round. Unranked Iowa State (21-11) was second in the Big Eight Conference Tournament and has won seven straight at home.