Spartans head back to state with big second half against Akron-Westfield

February 20th, 2017 by admin

The Exira-EHK Spartans girls basketball team is headed to the Class 1A State Tournament for the third straight year, but it took a big second half effort to get there. The Spartans outscored Akron-Westfield 32-13 in the second half to win by a final of 52-46 in Mapleton on Monday night. The Spartans trailed 33-20 after a sloppy first half but flipped the tables in the second half and held the Westerners scoreless in the third quarter. Exira-EHK Head Coach Tom Petersen was proud of their second half effort.

The Spartans didn’t take care of the basketball in the first half well and also were dominated on the glass with the Westerners getting multiple second and third chance possessions. Coach Petersen said his team wasn’t rotating and playing defense well early in the game.

Spartan Junior Sophia Peppers led the second half charge with 17 of her game-high 21 points coming after the break. Peppers said Coach Petersen was very motivational in the halftime locker room.

Peppers also talked about the defensive adjustments that helped spark the turnaround.

The Spartans will make their third straight trip to the state tournament after making the semifinals two seasons ago and falling in the first round last year. Peppers said the team is motivated to have success at state this year.

Akron-Westfield was led in the loss by Bailey Davis with 11 points and their season ends with a 19-5 record. The Spartans improve to 23-1 and will face the 23-1 Sidney Cowgirls in the first round of the 1A State Tournament on Monday, February 27th at 3:15pm. We’ll have coverage of the game on KJAN from Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Listen to the full post-game interviews with Head Coach Tom Petersen and Sophia Peppers below.