CCS men hand NIC first loss of season
It wasn’t like North Idaho College coach Jared Phay actually wanted to do the math. It was just too obvious – and painful – to ignore.
During one 5 1/2-minute span of the second half, Phay’s previously unbeaten Cardinals made only 2 of 9 foul shots, while host Community Colleges of Spokane knocked down four 3-pointers.
As a result, CCS broke loose on a 21-4 run that lifted the Sasquatch to a rare 80-66 win over NIC in the nightcap of Tuesday’s second annual Border Clash doubleheader that played out in front of a crowd of 2,263 at Gonzaga University’s McCarthey Athletic Center following West Valley High School’s victory over Post Falls.
“There was a stretch there where we couldn’t make a free throw and they were making 3s,” Phay said after watching his 14th-ranked Cardinals (10-1) lose for the first time this season. “Just do the math, and you’ll see that isn’t going to get it done.”
CCS (8-1) got 21 points from Eric Beal and finished with three other players in double figures to give first-year coach Mike Burns plenty of reason to smile.
“That was a nice win for us,” Burns said. “NIC is a very good team that’s earned its ranking. I was proud of the effort our fellas put forth and proud of the way they played.”
Which was smart.
The Sasquatch, along with forging a 65-54 lead behind their big second-half surge, also nailed 17 of their last 18 free-throw attempts to dampen any comeback aspirations the Cardinals might have been entertaining.
Beal, a 5-foot-11 sophomore out of North Central High School, scored 10 of his points during this team’s decisive run and made 10 of 11 free throws for the game. Jordan Gregg finished with 14 points for CCS, which also got 11 from Bo Gregg and 10 from Matthew Dorr.
“Our guys did a great job of understanding where the game was, what the score was and what we needed to do based on score and time,” Burns said in reference to the productive way his team finished by knocking down free throws and taking care of the basketball.
NIC, on the other hand, managed to convert on only 16 of 29 free throws. Once the Cardinals lost the rebounding edge they had established shortly after intermission to wipe out the Sasquatch’s 35-28 halftime lead, they were pretty much toast.
“I don’t know if we got tired or what,” Phay said. “I felt like we were really controlling the boards there for awhile when we got back into it and took a lead. But they hit some big shots right then and broke our spirit.
“They definitely shot the ball a lot better than we did.”
NIC, which got 13 points from Steve Wesley and 12 from Kene Anuisonwu, shot just 37.7 percent (24-64) from the field and made only 2 of 8 3-point attempts. CCS finished 25 of 48 (52.1 percent) from the floor and made 21 of 28 foul shots.
“Spokane is tough to guard,” Phay said. “They really have four shooters out there on the floor at the same time, and that’s a matchup problem for us.”