{"id":390962,"date":"2026-01-04T11:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T11:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/390962\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T11:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T11:37:09","slug":"nic-basketball-twin-beatings-nationally-ranked-csi-handles-rival-north-idaho-in-scenic-west-conference-mens-womens-openers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/390962\/","title":{"rendered":"NIC BASKETBALL: Twin beatings … Nationally-ranked CSI handles rival North Idaho in Scenic West Conference men’s, women’s openers"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JASON ELLIOTT\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sports writer\u00a0<\/p>\n

COEUR d\u2019ALENE \u2014 Experience mattered.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The visiting College of Southern Idaho had it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

North Idaho College is still seeking it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the men\u2019s game, NIC sophomore guard Ne\u2019quan 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to figure out something as a coaching staff and figure out what we can do offensively,\u201d NIC men\u2019s basketball coach Corey Symons said. \u201cWe played good defense in the first half, but we just couldn\u2019t put the ball in the basket. We\u2019ve got to find a way to put the ball in the basket.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problems we\u2019re having are self-inflicted,\u201d NIC coach Nathan Covill said. \u201cUntil we learn to figure it out \u2014 myself, the kids \u2014 and start playing together, we\u2019re going to shoot ourselves in the foot. We\u2019re just not there yet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both NIC teams return to action on Thursday, facing Salt Lake in Taylorsville, Utah. <\/p>\n

MEN: Brown scored 13 of his team-high 16 points in the second half for NIC, which shot 21 of 48.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jalyn Lyn, a sophomore from Queens, N.Y., scored 31 points for CSI.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was able to get a couple of free throws to go in in the first half,\u201d Brown said. \u201cFortunately, 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

NIC freshman Justus Haseley hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 45-37 with 12:41 remaining before CSI pulled away again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re playing good defense, but the second half we kind of let up,\u201d Symons said. \u201cOur depth isn\u2019t very well and our conditioning isn\u2019t well, and that falls on me. We\u2019ve got to do a better job and get ready for Salt Lake.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

CSI led 32-22 at halftime, limiting NIC to seven field goals in the first half.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNeither one of us could score,\u201d CSI coach Jeff Reinert said. \u201cWe were both not very good offensively, but it\u2019s a credit to both teams’ defense. North is long and athletic and they\u2019re hard to score on. We just made some shots in the second half and it turned the tide.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

CSI beat NIC 79-70 in the championship game of the Battle for the Boot in Twin Falls on Nov. 8.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think North, and Brown with his health issues in the fall, might have set them behind a little bit,\u201d Reinert said. \u201cThey might not be completely there, but they\u2019re good. They\u2019re a good team and going to be good. It\u2019s hard to win here, and we\u2019ve 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\u2019ve got to take care of business at other places and if we do that, we\u2019ve got a chance to be successful.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

CSI shot 25 of 57, but made 20 of 29 from the free throw line.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just executed tonight,\u201d Brown said. \u201cThey 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\u2019t really played yet. They knew a lot of what we had and what we were going to try to do in different situations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was the Cardinals\u2019 fourth game in six days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJeff does a really good job of building experience,\u201d Symons said. \u201cJalen 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\u2019ve got one really solid sophomore (Brown), and two with Ajayi (Simmons). He plays good, but he\u2019s not the outgoing type and we\u2019ve got a bunch of freshmen. We\u2019re just not ready for this league yet and I don\u2019t think they know what it is day in and day out. And I think it was an eye-opening experience for them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

COLLEGE OF SOUTHERN IDAHO\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

NORTH IDAHO\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ne\u2019quan 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.<\/p>\n

Halftime \u2014 CSI 32-22. 3-point goals \u2014 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 \u2014 CSI 30 (Ahner 7), NIC 36 (N. Brown 8). Assists \u2014 CSI 10 (Ahner 4), NIC 6 (six with 1). Team fouls \u2014 CSI 25, NIC 22. Fouled out \u2014 none. Technical fouls \u2014 NIC team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big thing is we brought a kid off the bench (Wood) that hit a bunch of 3s in a row,\u201d CSI coach Randy Rogers said. \u201cThat gave us some momentum. We were struggling a little bit trying to find our way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

CSI won two of three games against NIC last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get into conference play, and it really doesn\u2019t matter what the records are,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cIt\u2019s different, and you try to tell your kids that. But we\u2019ve 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

NIC shot 17 of 39, including 3 of 8 from the 3-point line.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did a pretty good job defensively,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cThere was some execution things on screens that we didn\u2019t do well and our rotations weren\u2019t good. It\u2019s good game film to watch and try to get better from.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

NIC will face CSI in Twin Falls on Feb. 7, then again in Coeur d\u2019Alene on Feb. 21\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re usually up here a lot later, but when you play them twice, you\u2019ve got to come up here sometime,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cAround the league, there\u2019s going to be three teams tied for first and three tied for last.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Summer Faleafa, a sophomore from Auckland, New Zealand, scored 13 points for NIC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll have a conversation about it tomorrow,\u201d Covill said. \u201cI want to watch the film and see how things looked. The basketball piece isn\u2019t our issue. It\u2019s just everything else. They\u2019re great young ladies, and do everything we ask them to do. They come in and work hard, but we\u2019re missing something. I don\u2019t know what that is, and I\u2019m missing it. And we\u2019ve got to figure it out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

COLLEGE OF SOUTHERN IDAHO\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

NORTH IDAHO COLLEGE \u00a0<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Southern Idaho \u00a0 \u00a019 \u00a0 \u00a023 \u00a0 \u00a021 \u00a0 \u00a015 \u00a0 \u00a0\u2014 \u00a0 \u00a078\u00a0<\/p>\n

North Idaho \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a014 \u00a0 \u00a014 \u00a0 \u00a05 \u00a0 \u00a018 \u00a0 \u00a0\u2014 \u00a0 \u00a051\u00a0<\/p>\n

3-point goals \u2014 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 \u2013 CSI 33 (Stoker 6), NIC 24 (Nelson 6). Assists \u2013 CSI 14 (Morrow 5), NIC 5 (Freeman 2). Team fouls \u2013 CSI 17, NIC 8. Fouled out \u2013 none.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/a> \u00a0JASON 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.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/a> \u00a0JASON 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.
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