Region 18 tournament pairings set
Pairings have been finalized for the Region 18 basketball tournaments, which will be held at North Idaho College’s Christianson Gym this week.
The women’s tournament begins Wednesday with three games: No. 4 Dixie vs. No. 5 Eastern Utah at 3 p.m., No. 3 Salt Lake vs. No. 6 Snow at 5 and No. 2 Southern Idaho vs. No. 7 Colorado Northwestern at 7. On Friday, No. 1 NIC will face the Dixie-CEU winner at 6 p.m.
The women’s championship game is Saturday at 5 p.m. The men’s title game follows at 7:30.
The second-seeded NIC men received an unexpected share of the Scenic West Athletic Conference championship when Southern Idaho was defeated by Snow on Friday and Saturday. The losses dropped CSI to 13-5 in the SWAC and a co-title with NIC, which was idle over the weekend. CSI is the No. 1 seed because it went 3-0 against NIC.
The men’s tournament begins Thursday with No. 4 Eastern Utah taking on No. 5 Snow at 5 and No. 3 Dixie facing No. 6 Colorado Northwestern at 7. On Friday, CSI meets the CEU-Snow winner at 2 p.m., and NIC faces the Dixie-Colorado Northwestern winner at 8 p.m.
Football
Jimmy Lake, a standout football player at North Central High School and Eastern Washington University, is joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as assistant secondary coach.
Lake, who was on the Montana State staff last season, interviewed with the Bucs on Friday and was immediately offered the job.
“I’m so excited,” Lake said Sunday morning while cleaning out his office in Bozeman. “It’s a great opportunity.”
Lake, 28, had interviewed at the University of Washington on Sunday and Monday. He had worked at UW two seasons ago but lost his job when Keith Gilbertson was fired. When he came out of an interview with Huskies coach Tyrone Willingham on Monday, he had a message from Monte Kiffin, Tampa Bay’s defensive coordinator. After several phone interviews, he flew to Tampa Bay to interview with head coach Jon Gruden.
Lake said he was told he was about the 56th person interviewed, and halfway through, he was offered the job.
After his playing career at Eastern, he was a secondary coach for the Eagles before going to UW for one season. He worked last spring at Idaho State before Mike Kramer hired him at MSU.
In his quest to move into pro football had been hoping to join Scott Linehan’s staff in a defensive quality control position.
“I’m a coach now. I’m a coach,” Lake said. “There are five coaches on defense, and I’m one of them.”
Softball
University High graduate Angie Boardman hit a second-inning grand slam and finished with six RBIs, and Kelcey Cavan threw a one-hitter as North Idaho routed host Walla Walla 11-0 in five innings in the first game of a non-conference doubleheader.
Boardman added three more hits in the nightcap, a 13-8 NIC victory. Justine Williams, Melodee Mildenberger and Jessica Keeton (University) each hit a pair of doubles for the Cardinals.