Athletic Cardinals Rout Ccs

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.

Minutes later, Spokane’s snappy passing led to an opening near the basket for a forward. Result: A Cardinals defender quickly closed and swatted the shot.

NIC routed Spokane 107-53 on Tuesday night at Christianson Gym in a non-conference men’s game that underlined the vast difference in the teams’ athleticism.

“They’re exceptionally quick,” Spokane coach Sam Brasch said. “Against a transition team like that, once they get going they can really go. There’s a huge difference in athletes and resources, but I thought our kids battled.”

The Sasquatch (8-13 overall) trailed just 28-23 midway through the first half when NIC took off.

The Cards scored 15 points in less than 4 minutes for a cozy 42-25 lead.

Per usual, NIC’s depth was impressive. Quentin Hall, David Cunningham, Gabriel Rapier and Ajene Robertson turned a slow-paced game into a track meet.

“When we made a couple of substitutions, the decibels went up a little,” said NIC coach Rolly Williams, whose team improved to 18-2 heading into Saturday’s date with Ricks College in Christianson Gym.

“When we play hard, we’re enjoyable to watch.”

NIC finished with 34 assists - Eric Sanchez, Cunningham, Hall and Robertson offering up numerous precision passes. The Cards had 15 steals and nine blocked shots.

Spokane was led by Mike Ferrante’s 13 points, but he was the only Sasquatch player to shoot better than 50 percent. Ferrante made 5 of 8 shots, including 2 of 4 3-pointers.

Spokane scored only 28 points in the final 26 minutes.

“It really makes you appreciate the times when you do beat them (NIC),” Brasch said of the humbling loss. “Sometimes the gap isn’t so big, but this year the gap is huge. That’s the way it probably should be most times.”

NIC played without center Roy Kruiswyk, who has a leg injury. Williams said Kruiswyk might be ready for Saturday’s game. Guard Tijuan Dial missed the game due to illness.

“I was pleased with our focus,” Williams said. “With this team, you can’t go out and give so-so effort.”

Or you’ll be sitting next to Williams on the bench. NIC goes 12 deep and Williams freely plays his reserves to discover who’s hot on a particular night.

North Idaho 107, Spokane 53

Spokane (8-13) - Moffatt 1-6 2-2 5, Strahl 2-6 0-0 4, Rice 0 0-0 0, York 2-7 1-2 5, Schug 1-3, 3-4 5, Palmer 1-7 0-0 2, Ferrante 5-8 1-2 13, Gehring 1-2 0-0 2, Berndt 0-1 1-2 1, Hegbloom 3-10 0-2 6, Raiford 3-10 2-2 8, Hampton 1-7 0-0 2. Totals 20-67 10-16 53.

North Idaho (18-2) - Hall 4-6 0-0 9, Schultz 0-1 0-0 0, Helm 4-4 0-0 8, Cunningham 2-5 0-0 5, Stack 2-6 0-0 6, Thompson 9-15 0-0 18, Allen 2-3 0-0 5, Rapier 3-4 4-4 10, McCoy 1-2 2-2 4, Byrne 2-3 4-6 8, Barth 3-4 2-2 9, Robertson 4-6 2-4 10, Sanchez 6-7 0-0 15. Totals 42-66 14-18 107.

Halftime - NIC 50, Spokane 29. 3-point goals - Spokane 3-15 (Moffatt 1-5, Strahl 0-2, York 0-3, Schug 0-1, Ferrante 2-4), NIC 9-16 (Hall 1-2, Cunningham 1-2, Stack 2-4, Allen 1-2, McCoy 0-1, Barth 1-2, Sanchez 3-3. Fouled out - Thompson. Technical fouls - none. Rebounds - Spokane 29 (Schug, Hegbloom, Raiford, Hampton 4 each), NIC 35 (Byrne 9). Assists - Spokane 11 (Schug and Ferrante 3 each), NIC 34 (Sanchez 7). Total fouls - Spokane 13, NIC 15.

, DataTimes