Lewis-Clark State men, women open their basketball seasons with a pair of victories

A couple of hoops wins for the Lewis-Clark State men’s and women’s teams and a celebration of Tribal Nations Weekend was the way the Warriors welcomed in the 2024-25 basketball season on Saturday at the P1FCU Activity Center.

The No. 25 LC State men topped Haskell Indian Nations (Kan.) 91-68, while the No. 24 Warrior women beat Haskell 97-59.

Here’s how the two games went down:

Men’s game

Four Warriors scored at least 16 points in the victory and forward Alton Hamilton notched a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds to start his sophomore season.

The LC State bench scored 48 of the team’s 91 points, highlighted by Kasen Carpenter’s 21 points on seven 3-pointers. The mark is tied for third-most by a Warrior in a single game, and the junior did so in his first game with LC State.

Redshirt freshman forward Josh Salguero added 16 points. Both were 7-for-10 from the field.

“Tonight was a really good team win,” men’s coach Austin Johnson said. “Haskell set the tone early but over time our guys were able to get some rhythm and create opportunities. We fouled too much and were too shaky with the ball but we overcame all of that with effort.

“Kasen and Josh were huge tonight and helped create some breathing room.”

The night was also special for the community of Lapwai as Haskell junior Alexander Ellenwood made his return to the Valley after competing for the Wildcats in high school. A crowd of more than 1,300 turned out for the Saturday night contest in support of both teams.

Next up, the Warriors travel to Caldwell next weekend for College of Idaho’s Taco Bell Shootout. LC State will face Dickinson State (N.D.) on Friday and Providence (Mont.) on Saturday.

Women’s game

Five Warriors scored in double-digits and the LC State defense capitalized on turnovers to roll to a season-opening victory.

Juniors Sitara Byrd and Payton Hymas led the way for LCSC.

Byrd tied for the game-high with 21 points and led the contest with nine rebounds. She drained a career-best nine field goals on a 9-for-14 night.

Hymas added 14 points to go with her career-high six boards, six assists and four steals.

Kendall Wallace, a freshman guard from Clarkston High, contributed four points and three steals in her collegiate debut.

The Warriors rolled out to an 11-1 lead to start the game and never looked back.

LC State outrebounded Haskell 50-37, shot 45.3% from the floor and forced 28 turnovers. The Warriors scored 48 points off those turnovers with the help of 23 steals.

Next up, the Warrior women hit the road for a pair of contests in Arizona. LC State will take on Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) on Wednesday and Park-Gilbert (Ariz.) on Thursday.

“Great team win tonight and to see five players in double-digit scoring is really great,” women’s coach Caelyn Orlandi said. “I believe that balanced scoring is going to be a big theme for us this season. We shared the ball well tonight and took care of it against a high-pressure team. We ended the game with 52 points in the paint and that was big for us.”