The Exira-EHK Spartans will take on the Turkey Valley Trojans in the Girls Class 1A State Semifinals on Thursday morning in Des Moines.  The Spartans are confident after a first round win over Sidney 58-43.  Exira-EHK Head Coach Tom Petersen thought his team responded well to adversity in the quarterfinal round. The Spartans active defense was a big part of the win over Sidney and Coach Petersen says they’ll have to do even better in the semis.

The Spartans face a tough challenge from last year’s Class 1A Runner-Up Turkey Valley who won their opening game against Janesville 60-58.  Coach Petersen talked about slowing down two strong scorers for the Trojans.

Sophia Peppers has been a big factor in Exira-EHK’s postseason run and she had another big game against Sidney with 22 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, and 4 assists. Coach Petersen said he expected her to step up and be the strong leader of the team. Peppers said her team is locked in and ready after the first round win.

We’ll have coverage of the Spartans and Trojans on KJAN Thursday morning. Chris Parks and Mike Smith will bring you pregame coverage at 10:45am with tip-off set for 11:45am.