The Extra-EHK Spartans Girls Basketball team dominated in the second half in their regional semifinal matchup vs CAM to win 55-31. At halftime it was just a 7 point game, but the pace of play that the Spartans play with became too much for the Cougars to handle. Taryn Petersen was the engine behind the Extra-EHK offense on Friday night. She tied Jaelynn Petersen for a game high scoring total of 14. The Spartans turned a 7 point halftime lead into a 24 point win. They crashed the offensive glass in the second half and locked down defensively to lead them to another Regional Final appearance.

In the first half, CAM was really able to hang around with the Spartans who had every advantage on paper. CAM ran their offense through Ada Hanson as they have done all season. She put in 8 of the Cougars 19 first half points, but it was apparent that if they wanted to make a full comeback, they would need to rely on other scorers as well. For the Spartans, the first half was defined by their ability to completely shut down the Cougars offense. They seemed to jump in every passing lane and were running down the court every chance they could get. On offense, the Spartans didn’t necessarily look like themselves, but they were getting a lot of open shots that just weren’t falling. The Spartans were setting the pace and it was just a matter of time before they got their shots to fall. Jaelynn Petersen led all first half scoring with 10.

It didn’t take long into the second half for Extra-EHK to heat up. 4 of their 18 3rd quarter points came within the first 30 seconds of the game. It really was the third quarter where the Spartans separated themselves from CAM. They outscored the Cougars 18-12 in the third quarter to make it a 13 point ballgame heading into the final period. One of the things that stood out was Harlow Miller’s ability to grab offensive rebounds in the second half. She lived on the offensive glass and opened up many opportunities to extend their lead. Zoey Rasmussen was huge for Extra-EHK’s effort to pull away, hitting four three pointers on the day. It seemed as if they were drawing plays up specifically to get her open in the corner. It was the third quarter that it felt like the Spartans were able to pull away. The fourth quarter was essentially time for the Spartans to drain a ton of clock. It was a complete team effort on Friday night with three girls finishing in double digits. Head coach Tom Petersen credits his girls for their efforts and for what another regional final appearance means to them.

With CAM hanging around in the second half, Coach Petersen made multiple key adjustments at the half to turn the tide in favor of his Spartans:

Coach Petersen knew to trust Taryn Petersen on the offensive end:

Harlow Miller made an incredible impact in the second half:

Coach Petersen’s mindset heading into the regional final:

The Extra-EHK Spartans have a showdown set against the GTRA Titans on Wednesday, February 25th. A trip to the state tournament is on the line with tipoff scheduled for 7pm.