Cardinals claim Clash

The difference between the No. 6 team in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges and the No. 20 team in the nation?

Try 18 points.

It could have been more had North Idaho College not lost interest early in an 82-64 win over Community Colleges of Spokane in the third annual Border Clash before 2,579 fans at Gonzaga’s McCarthey Athletic Center on Thursday.

“They hit some tough shots and got momentum early,” CCS coach Clint Hull said. “With a team that talented, that’s not how you want to get out of the gate. Our young team was intimidated at the beginning.”

With 7-foot-1 Guy-Marc Michel patrolling the middle and blocking the first two CCS shots, the Sasquatch, who were outsized and a step slower to begin with, were quickly rattled.

By the time Zach Humphrey made a free throw 7 minutes, 10 seconds into the game, the Sasquatch had missed 12 field-goal attempts, three free-throw attempts, committed two turnovers and trailed 16-0.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals did a bit of everything on offense.

Renado Parker opened the scoring with a pair of free throws and a layup. Lateef Williams followed with a pair of baskets from short range. Then it was a Parker basket and a three-point play sandwiched around a Shawn Henderson 3-pointer from the left corner for a 16-0 lead.

“That was on the defensive end,” NIC coach Jared Phay said of the great start. “The guys were playing real unselfishly. We’ve got a lot of individual talent, but it’s important to play as a team.”

The Sasquatch settled down behind reserve Griffon Jones, a 6-5 post who attacked the Cardinals and was the only CCS player to make more than one basket in the first half.

It was 41-20 at the break, with Henderson and Parker combining for 23 Cardinal points. NIC shot 53 percent, CCS 23 percent.

The second half became a shootout, which didn’t please Phay, who called CCS the best team NIC has played this year.

“Call it a lackadaisical effort on defense in the second half,” he said. “It’s hard to defend as well as you would if the game was tight. We got into trading baskets with them, which is what we didn’t want to do.”

CCS shot 52 percent in the second half, hitting 7 of 13 3-pointers, which was better than their 5-for-10 performance from the line. Jones finished with 10 points and seven rebounds and Humphrey had 13 points, hitting 4 of 6 3-pointers.

“Once we settled in, we did a much better job of competing,” Hull said. “(Slow starts) have been a problem for our young team.”

NIC shot 68 percent in the second half to finish at 59.6 percent for the game, but only managed a 31-31 draw on the boards. Henderson, who has signed with Idaho, finished with 24, Parker had 18 and point guard Melvin Jones had 19 with four assists and no turnovers.

As for Michel, who has Gonzaga’s interest, it’s clear he is a project on offense, though he has a nice touch. On defense, however, he is a disrupter. He finished with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, with 13 rebounds and five blocked shots, plus numerous altered shots.

Women

The teams weren’t quite ready for the bright lights of the big arena.

NIC pulled out its second win over CCS this year, but it was a far cry from the 83-46 score on Nov. 29. NIC won 51-42.

The Cardinals (8-1) built a double-figure lead late in the first half, but the Sasquatch (5-3) clawed within five twice in the second half despite some miserable shooting. CCS, which shot 24 percent in the first 20 minutes, shot just 26 percent in the second.

After cutting it to 36-31 on a short Andrea DePaolo jumper at the 13-minute mark, CCS had five more possessions to get closer. After NIC’s Lindsay Wimett hit a pair of free throws, the Sasquatch had four more chances before a Wimett 3-pointer made it 41-31. In nine possessions, CCS had two turnovers and missed nine shots.

“I knew they were going to play better defense,” NIC coach Chris Carlson said. “In the second half when the game got tight, our man-to-man defense stepped up. A five-point game got a response out of us.”

Kelsey Stillar, who led all scorers with 16 points and 10 rebounds, helped CCS get within 43-38 with just less than 4 minutes to play. But Wimett again came through as her 3-pointer after a Brigitte Boucher basket restored the 10-point lead. Wimett led NIC with 11 points and Bianca Cheever had nine rebounds.