Cardinals Bury Treasure

It was close - until North Idaho College went on that little 103-66 run.

That spurt, which lasted roughly 39-1/2 minutes, helped the Cardinals to a suspense-free 103-66 men’s basketball victory over Treasure Valley on Thursday night at Christianson Gym.

Tuning up for a showdown with College of Southern Idaho, NIC pressed the Chukars into disarray from the opening tip.

“It was just one of those games you have to forget,” Treasure Valley coach Drake Wallick said.

NIC hiked its record to 21-3, 9-3 in the Scenic West Athletic Conference. Treasure dropped to 9-14, 2-10. CSI (20-4, 8-4) downed Ricks 87-77 on Thursday in preparation for Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. date with NIC.

A couple of weeks ago, NIC bolted in front of Ricks 23-0. On Thursday, the Cards led 13-zip with only 3 minutes gone.

Treasure got on the board on Matt Morris’ layup, but NIC quickly built a 32-10 lead, fueled mostly by steals off its 1-3-1 trapping defense.

During most of the first half, NIC’s steals total was running neck-and-neck with Treasure’s point total. The Cards had 15 steals and Treasure trailed 61-23 at half.

Forward Jeroen Barth came off the bench to score nine points and his dunk pushed the Cards over the 100-point barrier.

NIC point guard Quentin Hall, starting in place of Steve Helm, who was benched for missing a practice, racked up 16 points, seven rebounds, 12 assists and seven steals.

David Cunningham scored nine points, handed out seven assists and had three steals. Troy Thompson scored 22 points on 9 of 12 shooting.

“I thought David kind of came back, he was kind of in a little funk there,” NIC coach Rolly Williams said. “He came back with that spark he plays with.”

Darnell McCoy scored 12, Gabriel Rapier 11 and Roy Kruiswyk 10.

The easy victory came roughly a month after NIC struggled with Treasure, 73-65, in Ontario, Ore.

“That one wasn’t as fast-paced for either team. It was more of a half-court game,” Wallick said. “Of course, they didn’t shoot nearly as well. We knew they were going to press, but we ended up being timid and that’s the mentality of what the trap wants you to do.”

North Idaho 103, Treasure Valley 66

TREASURE VALLEY (9-14, 2-10) - Ramos 4-11 6-7 15, Kamara 4-9 3-4 11, Fujimoto 3-7 1-2 9, Rowbury 1-2 1-2 4, Hinckley 4-10 0-0 8, Childress 3-7 2-2 8, Kollman 0-1 0-0 0, Morris 3-10 1-5 7, Anderson 2-7 0-0 4. Totals 24-64 14-22 66.

NORTH IDAHO (21-3, 9-3) - Hall 5-12 5-5 16, Dial 2-5 0-2 4, Schultz 0-1 0-0 0, Cunningham 4-7 0-0 9, Stack 1-1 0-0 2, Thompson 9-12 2-2 22, Allen 1-2 0-0 3, Rapier 5-10 1-2 11, McCoy 5-12 0-1 12, Barth 4-12 0-0 9, Robertson 1-6 1-2 3, Kruiswyk 5-8 0-0 10, Sanchez 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 43-89 9-15 103.

Halftime-NIC 61, TVCC 23. 3-point goals-TVCC 4-15 (Fujimoto 2-5, Ramos 1-4, Rowbury 1-1, Hinckley 0-3, Morris 0-1, Anderson 0-1), NIC 8-21 (Thompson 2-2, Cunningham 1-2, McCoy 2-5, Barth 1-4, Hall 1-1, Rapier 0-1, Dial 0-3, Schultz 0-1, Allen 1-2). Total fouls-TVCC 10, NIC 19. Fouled out-none. Technical fouls-none. Rebounds-TVCC 45 (Childress 9), NIC 44 (Robertson, Hall each 7) Assists-TVCC 14 (Fujimoto 4), NIC 33 (Hall 12).

, DataTimes