Ruling Makes Player Turn To Bottle

About an hour before tipoff, Beth Palmer found out she wouldn’t be allowed to play in North Idaho College’s basketball game on Wednesday.

She retreated to the locker room and cried. Then she returned to a seat behind NIC’s bench, filling water bottles and watching helplessly as the Cardinals’ season ended in a 91-62 defeat to Utah Valley at the Region 18 Tournament at College of Southern Idaho.

Palmer was banished for her part in a scrap in NIC’s final regular-season game against Snow last week. The officials working that game notified Art Mendini, supervisor of Region 18 officials, that the ejection was for fighting, which requires the players involved to miss their next game. One Snow player was also suspended.

NIC coach Greg Crimp disputed the decision, of which he learned at a coaches’ meeting on Tuesday night. He felt the incident was a shoving match, created in part by shoddy officiating.

Crimp showed the coaches the video.

“They seemed in agreement that it wasn’t too good of officiating,” Crimp said.

NIC attempted to get the decision overturned by the Region 18 executive board, comprised of five athletic directors. But only three of the five members were present and the decision stood. One of the absent was Ricks A.D. and Region 18 director Glenn Dalling.

“We couldn’t get hold of him, which bothers me,” Crimp said. “We’ve got a regional tournament and the regional director’s not here.”

Crimp said he didn’t tell Palmer, a Post Falls High graduate, of her suspension until Wednesday because he felt there was a chance for a reversal.

Seasonal reflections

At midseason, NIC seemed to be improving with every game. Then came a crushing home loss to eventual Scenic West champion Ricks.

“We lost a lot of confidence in that game,” Crimp said. From that game on, he said NIC shot poorly and couldn’t stop a wave of turnovers.

Crimp, who replaced DeHaven Hill after last season, offered a critical selfevaluation following NIC’s 11-17 year.

“I don’t think I helped them get near their potential,” he said.

What would he have done differently? “Practices maybe needed to be more intense and more devoted to fundamentals,” he said.

Players said Crimp performed well.

“We (sophomores) had a rough time last year, but we’ve all improved a lot this year because we had a great coach who supported us,” said sophomore Michelle Greenwood. “I learned a lot this year. I felt like I hadn’t learned anything last year. I learned to believe in myself and I got some confidence back.”

Crimp’s rebuilding task won’t be easy. He has five freshmen returning, but none started. It was evident in Wednesday’s loss to Utah Valley that NIC needs “speed and quickness,” he said.

Notes

Jenna Umthun, a Post Falls grad playing for CSI, said she hopes to continue playing and has been contacted by Lewis-Clark State College and Seattle Pacific. … Utah Valley guard Kim Morris, who dominated NIC with 18 points and seven assists, is being recruited by Brigham Young, Fresno State and Arizona State, coach Tom Perkins said. … The NIC men missed the first half of the women’s game to attend a 1 p.m. shoot-around at Twin Falls High. Tournament officials pre schedule shoot-arounds.