By JASON ELLIOTT
Sports writer
COEUR d’ALENE — Experience mattered.
The visiting College of Southern Idaho had it.
North Idaho College is still seeking it.
In the men’s game, NIC sophomore guard Ne’quan Brown hit back-to-back 3-pointers to get the Cardinals (10-6) to within a 37-34 deficit early in the second half, but the 14th-ranked Golden Eagles (15-1) used an 8-0 run over the next five minutes, eventually putting the game away 82-65 in the Scenic West Athletic Conference opener for both schools at Rolly Williams Court on Saturday.
“I’ve got to figure out something as a coaching staff and figure out what we can do offensively,” NIC men’s basketball coach Corey Symons said. “We played good defense in the first half, but we just couldn’t put the ball in the basket. We’ve got to find a way to put the ball in the basket.”
Earlier, Calyn Wood, a sophomore guard from Idaho Falls High, hit four of her game-high five 3-pointers in the first half, finishing with 17 points as the 10th-ranked Golden Eagle (15-1) women beat the Cardinals (5-9) 78-51 in the conference opener for both.
“The problems we’re having are self-inflicted,” NIC coach Nathan Covill said. “Until we learn to figure it out — myself, the kids — and start playing together, we’re going to shoot ourselves in the foot. We’re just not there yet.”
Both NIC teams return to action on Thursday, facing Salt Lake in Taylorsville, Utah.
MEN: Brown scored 13 of his team-high 16 points in the second half for NIC, which shot 21 of 48.
Jalyn Lyn, a sophomore from Queens, N.Y., scored 31 points for CSI.
“I was able to get a couple of free throws to go in in the first half,” Brown said. “Fortunately, I was able to stay out of foul trouble in the second half and was able to get some shots up. Just being able to be in the game, get into a flow and get some shots up, getting that feel for the game, that was the biggest part to me in the second half.”
NIC was held to a season-low 14 points in the first half of a game in the JUCO Tarkanian Classic against Howard College on Dec. 18 in Las Vegas.
NIC freshman Justus Haseley hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 45-37 with 12:41 remaining before CSI pulled away again.
“We’re playing good defense, but the second half we kind of let up,” Symons said. “Our depth isn’t very well and our conditioning isn’t well, and that falls on me. We’ve got to do a better job and get ready for Salt Lake.”
CSI led 32-22 at halftime, limiting NIC to seven field goals in the first half.
“Neither one of us could score,” CSI coach Jeff Reinert said. “We were both not very good offensively, but it’s a credit to both teams’ defense. North is long and athletic and they’re hard to score on. We just made some shots in the second half and it turned the tide.”
CSI beat NIC 79-70 in the championship game of the Battle for the Boot in Twin Falls on Nov. 8.
Brown had missed fall workouts after undergoing surgery on his left shoulder to treat a blood clot, but was cleared to play to start the season.
“I think North, and Brown with his health issues in the fall, might have set them behind a little bit,” Reinert said. “They might not be completely there, but they’re good. They’re a good team and going to be good. It’s hard to win here, and we’ve got to come back here again. This is a very difficult place to win, and we were fortunate to get a win here. Now we’ve got to take care of business at other places and if we do that, we’ve got a chance to be successful.”
CSI shot 25 of 57, but made 20 of 29 from the free throw line.
“They just executed tonight,” Brown said. “They scouted our plays really well and were aware of the things we were going to run. They were aware of our personnel and knew what we were going to try to run and what that looked like. The first time, there was a little less of a scout and we hadn’t really played yet. They knew a lot of what we had and what we were going to try to do in different situations.”
It was the Cardinals’ fourth game in six days.
“Jeff does a really good job of building experience,” Symons said. “Jalen Lyn has 31 points for them, and he barely played last year. Nate Ahner has a great game and he barely played last year. We’ve got one really solid sophomore (Brown), and two with Ajayi (Simmons). He plays good, but he’s not the outgoing type and we’ve got a bunch of freshmen. We’re just not ready for this league yet and I don’t think they know what it is day in and day out. And I think it was an eye-opening experience for them.”
COLLEGE OF SOUTHERN IDAHO
Jalen Lyn 10-14 5-5 31, Ace Reiser 2-11 2-2 6, Ben Thornbrue 4-11 6-8 16, Nathan Ahner 3-7 1-3 9, Charlie Dimmock 0-3 2-5 2, Cooper Kesler 1-2 2-2 5, Kyah Farris-White 0-2 0-0 0, Kobe Kesler 2-3 0-0 5, Guygustone Kasenga 2-3 2-4 6, Emil Hirvonen 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 25-57 20-29 82.
NORTH IDAHO
Ne’quan Brown 4-10 6-8 16, Nyale Robinson 3-7 5-7 11, Ajayi Simmons 1-6 3-4 5, Austin Ouko 2-9 3-4 8, Gage Ontiveros 2-2 1-5 5, Ace Arnold 0-1 0-0 0, Cody Wright 0-0 0-0 0, Cason Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Sawyr Hansen 0-0 0-0 0, Justus Haseley 2-5 0-0 6, Aly Toure 3-3 0-2 6, Jacori Ervin 4-5 0-1 8. Totals 21-48 18-31 65.
Halftime — CSI 32-22. 3-point goals — CSI 12-22 (Lyn 6-8, Reiser 0-3, Thornbrue 2-5, Ahner 2-4, C. Kesler 1-1, K. Kesler 1-1), NIC 5-17 (N. Brown 2-4, Robinson 0-3, Simmons 0-2, Ouko 1-4, Arnold 0-1, Haseley 2-3). Rebounds — CSI 30 (Ahner 7), NIC 36 (N. Brown 8). Assists — CSI 10 (Ahner 4), NIC 6 (six with 1). Team fouls — CSI 25, NIC 22. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — NIC team.
WOMEN: Freshman Kaytie Aanstad hit a jumper to give the Cardinals a 10-9 lead before the Golden Eagles went on a 17-3 run.
“The big thing is we brought a kid off the bench (Wood) that hit a bunch of 3s in a row,” CSI coach Randy Rogers said. “That gave us some momentum. We were struggling a little bit trying to find our way.”
CSI won two of three games against NIC last season.
“You get into conference play, and it really doesn’t matter what the records are,” Rogers said. “It’s different, and you try to tell your kids that. But we’ve got younger kids. The score made it look like we played well, but it was maybe one of our poorer performances of the season with our execution and that.”
NIC shot 17 of 39, including 3 of 8 from the 3-point line.
“We did a pretty good job defensively,” Rogers said. “There was some execution things on screens that we didn’t do well and our rotations weren’t good. It’s good game film to watch and try to get better from.”
NIC will face CSI in Twin Falls on Feb. 7, then again in Coeur d’Alene on Feb. 21
“We’re usually up here a lot later, but when you play them twice, you’ve got to come up here sometime,” Rogers said. “Around the league, there’s going to be three teams tied for first and three tied for last.”
Summer Faleafa, a sophomore from Auckland, New Zealand, scored 13 points for NIC.
“We’ll have a conversation about it tomorrow,” Covill said. “I want to watch the film and see how things looked. The basketball piece isn’t our issue. It’s just everything else. They’re great young ladies, and do everything we ask them to do. They come in and work hard, but we’re missing something. I don’t know what that is, and I’m missing it. And we’ve got to figure it out.”
COLLEGE OF SOUTHERN IDAHO
Chloe Jensen 1-2 0-0 2, Samara Morrow 7-13 2-2 17, Lea Nadolny 2-5 3-4 8, Savannah Stoker 8-12 0-0 16, Ashley Garner 2-7 0-2 4, Tavie Rogers 0-2 0-0 0, Eva Birkeland 2-5 0-0 6, Calyn Wood 6-111 0-0 17, Maci Hess 2-6 0-0 4, Ziah Greybull 1-1 0-0 2, Naomi Senato 1-2 0-0 2, Hedi Erelyi 0-1 0-0 0, Cambrie Waterhouse 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-68 5-8 78.
NORTH IDAHO COLLEGE
Chloe Collin 1-5 0-0 2, Karsyn Freeman 4-8 0-0 8, Ripeka Edwards 4-7 3-3 12, Summer Faleafa 5-10 3-4 13, Kaytie Aanstad 1-1 1-1 3, Diana Nelson 0-3 2-2 2, Molly Axell 0-0 0-0 0, Liv Whitemarsh 2-5 2-2 8, Sari Murphy 0-0 3-4 3. Totals 17-39 14-16 51.
Southern Idaho 19 23 21 15 — 78
North Idaho 14 14 5 18 — 51
3-point goals — CSI 9-22 (Jensen 0-1, Morrow 1-2, Nadolny 1-3, Stoker 0-1, Rogers 0-1, Birkeland 2-4, Wood 5-8, Hess 0-2), NIC 3-8 (Collin 0-1, Freeman 0-2, Edwards 1-2, Faleafa 0-1, Whitemarsh 2-2). Rebounds – CSI 33 (Stoker 6), NIC 24 (Nelson 6). Assists – CSI 14 (Morrow 5), NIC 5 (Freeman 2). Team fouls – CSI 17, NIC 8. Fouled out – none.
JASON ELLIOTT/Press North Idaho College freshman guard Justus Haseley attempts a shot in between College of Southern Idaho defenders Guygustone Kasenga (33) and Nathan Ahner (22) during the second half of Saturday’s game at Rolly Williams Court.
JASON ELLIOTT/Press North Idaho College sophomore forward Summer Faleafa attempts a jumper during the third quarter of Saturday’s Scenic West Athletic Conference game against College of Southern Idaho at Rolly Williams Court.