TWIN FALLS, Idaho — It was not a good day for the Salt Lake Community College men's and women's basketball teams, as the Bruins were beaten in both championship games of the Region 18 Tournament on Saturday.
The SLCC women's basketball team fell to North Idaho, 69-59, giving the Bruins a final season record of 24-5 overall.
Four Bruins finished in double digits, led by Jami Mokofisi with 19 points and 12 rebounds, Alli Blake scored 12 points with 10 boards. Haley Holmstead scored 13 points and Sofia Hepworth added 10 more for SLCC.
The Bruins were within two points at halftime but a tough shooting night for Salt Lake (41 percent) hurt the Bruins' championship chances along with 24 turnovers. SLCC out-rebounded North Idaho 44-29 with 15 offensive rebounds.
In the Region 18 men's championship game, SLCC fell to Southern Idaho 94-86 to finish the season with a 25-8 overall record.
Alfonzo Hubbard led Salt Lake with 27 points on 12-of-19 shooting from the floor. Patrick McCollum added 22 points and Jason Gamblin finished with a double-double, scoring 20 points with 10 boards. Salt Lake committed 21 turnovers while shooting 53 percent from the field.
Westminster men
CARROLL COLLEGE 69, WESTMINSTER 62: At Helena, Mont., the Westminster men's basketball team saw its Frontier Conference Tournament reign end as the Griffins suffered a 68-62 defeat to No. 19 Carroll College on Saturday night. The fourth-seeded Griffins were the two-time defending tournament champions.
With the loss, Westminster falls to 21-9 on the year, while Carroll improves to 22-7. Carroll will host Montana State-Northern in the conference title game on Tuesday.
The first half featured eight ties and neither team held more than a five-point advantage in the first 20 minutes. The eighth tie of the half came on a 3-pointer from Tanner Gregory as time expired to make it 35-35 at intermission. After both teams scored on the first possessions to star the second half, Westminster went on a 9-0 run capped by a Chris Cassity trey to put them on top 46-37 with 13:04 to play.
Carroll would then out together a 12-2 run of its own to build a one-point lead with nine minutes to play. A Tony Dalton and-one with 3:44 remaining put Carroll ahead for the final time. Westminster trailed by two with 1:05 to play when Byago Diouf tipped a loose ball to Chris McGrath, who then found Andy Garland for a layup and foul. The free throw put Carroll ahead 64-59 with 59.9 seconds to play. Westminster failed to score on its next three possessions and Carroll made free throws to seal the victory. Gregory made a 3 at the buzzer to make the final deficit six.
Gregory led all scorers with a career-high 22 points. He was 8-of-17 from the field with three triples and five rebounds. Jake Orchard added 20 points and four rebounds. Senior Michael Stockton scored 11 points with five rebounds and two assists.
Garland led four Saints in double figures with 15 points while grabbing eight rebounds. Diouf added 13 points and nine rebounds.
Westminster must now hope for an outside shot at an at-large berth to the NAIA National Championships. The field of 32 teams will be announced on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Westminster women
CARROLL COLLEGE 64, WESTMINSTER 63: At Salt Lake City, the eighth-ranked Westminster women's basketball team was upset by Carroll College 64-63 in a Frontier Conference Tournament semifinal game on Friday night in the Behnken Field House. No. 5-seeded Carroll got an Alysha Green runner with 2.2 seconds on the clock to take the victory.
Westminster entered the game as the No. 1 seed in the tournament, but falls to 26-6 on the season with the loss. Carroll improves to 21-11 with its second win of the year in Salt Lake City.
"You have to give Carroll all the credit tonight," head coach JD Gustin said. "They played hard for 40 minutes and they deserved to win tonight."
After leading 13-5 at the 13:02 mark of the first half, Westminster quickly saw the lead evaporate and the Griffins played from behind much of the night. Carroll would take a 17-15 lead at the 9:55 mark of the first half and would not trail again until there was 5:19 left when Jenteal Jackson made two free throws to put Westminster ahead 55-54.
After a Carroll possession in which they got three shots before a turnover, Westminster got a layup from Dani Evans to push the advantage to three with 4:25 to play. Four straight Carroll points again put the in front until two more Jackson freebies made it 59-58 Griffins with 2:22 remaining. Sara Meyer would split two free throws for Carroll and then Angela Fales scored a layup on a great drive to make it 61-59 for Westminster with 1:44 to play.
The game would remain that way until Jordan Bagley buried a three from the corner to put Carroll ahead 62-61 with 25.7 seconds remaining. Michelle Pace scored a layup with 14.5 seconds left to give the Griffins a one point advantage. After each team called a timeout, Green took the ball from the right wing into the paint where she banked in a running 12-footer with 2.2 to play. Jenteal Jackson fired a shot from half court as time expired, but it sailed wide.
"I'm little disappointed that we didn't rise to the challenge," Gustin stated. "We just didn't want it as much as Carroll did tonight."
Westminster suffered its fifth-worst shooting night of the season as they finished the game at 37.7 percent from the field.
Jackson was the only Westminster player to score in double figures as she finished with 16 points. She posted her first career double-double by adding a career high 10 rebounds while recording four assists and three steals. Pace and Angela Fales scored nine points apiece while Dani Evans and Dana Bates added eight each for the Griffins.
Westminster must now wait for an at-large berth into the NAIA Women's Basketball National Championships. The field will be announced on Wednesday at 6 p.m.