Sherwood brothers have big night as Idaho defeats Linfield

MOSCOW – Chad and Nate Sherwood summoned up a little bit of déjà vu from their days at West Albany High.

It was casual when Nate dished it to his wide-open brother for a 3-point shot late in the first half, something the pair did often while playing together in Albany, Oregon.

Also familiar? The brothers splashing one in from downtown back-to-back. Nate and Chad Sherwood drilled 3-pointers 26 seconds apart, signaling Idaho into cruise control and a 85-59 win Saturday night at Memorial Gym over Division-III opponent Linfield (Oregon).

“It’s awesome. Back in high school we did that a lot, so it’s cool that I get to play with him again and see what we could do this year,” Chad Sherwood said.

Chad Sherwood hit four 3-pointers, totaled 19 points and dished out two assists in 20 minutes of action.

Chad Sherwood decided to follow his brother Nate, who has 6 inches and 20 pounds on him, to Moscow when Nate received a scholarship. Chad is paying his own way through the University of Idaho … for the time being.

Nate sat out his freshman season as a medical redshirt because of a knee injury after only appearing in six games. Meanwhile, Chad was one of the last guards off the bench, mainly plying his trade in practice and also only playing in six games.

Now, he’s the first guard off the bench in Idaho’s three-guard system.

“You’re going to see quite a bit of Chad,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “ … Chad is a determined young man. He walked on here and busts his tail every day and has really worked on his game. As you can see, if you leave him open he can make them and was happy with the way he played tonight.”

Learning behind Idaho’s all-time leading scorer in Connor Hill probably wasn’t a bad experience for a redshirt walk-on.

“(He taught me) that you can’t give up. You’re not always going to make your shots,” Sherwood said. “Some nights they’re not going to fall, but you gotta keep shooting them because they’re going to go eventually.”

Sophomore Victor Sanders joined the 3-point party, dropping in a career-high 23 points on six 3-pointers. The lengthy guard from Portland also hauled in five rebounds, nabbed three steals and dished out two assists.

Both guards look to be in position to replace the scoring production lost when Mike Scott and Hill graduated.

“I think it is a team effort no matter what, no matter who you have or what players leave,” Sanders said. “I think that me filling the role of scoring or whatever the team needs is really important. I’m just trying to be a team player and do what I have to do to help the team win.”

Idaho travels to Denton, Texas, for the Mean Green Showcase starting on Monday. The Vandals will face North Texas, Troy and Samford on consecutive days.