NIC men, women ousted

The North Idaho College men’s and women’s basketball teams saw their seasons end Friday in the semifinals of the Scenic West Athletic Conference tournament in Ephraim, Utah.

The Cardinal women (22-10) fell to College of Southern Idaho 76-68. The men (21-11) lost to Salt Lake Community College 89-72.

NIC fell behind by as many as 17 points to the Eagles in the second half, but pulled to within four points at 64-60 with 3 minutes, 53 seconds remaining.

Southern Idaho, though, outscored the Cardinals 12-8 the rest of the way to earn a berth in the championship game.

Renae Mokrzycki of NIC led all scorers with 26 points and also had a game-high 11 rebounds.

Georgia Stirton added 16 points for the Cardinals, and Panisesi Taimani contributed 10.

For the men, the Bruins jumped to an 11-2 lead 6 minutes into the game and never looked back, leading by as many as 25 points in earning a spot in the title game.

Will Dorsey led NIC with 19 points, with Bryce Leavitt adding 18 and Shikei Blake scoring 13.