GIRLS HOOPS: Spartans will their way to victory over Woodbine

No. 7-ranked Exira-EHK moves to 2-0 on season with 46-37 victory, will face Guthrie Center Saturday

By Drew Herron - NT Sports Editor / Dec. 7, 2013

ELK HORN – Typical of early an season outing, Exira-EHK fumbled its way through four quarters Friday night on its home court before pulling away down the stretch to lock down an ugly nine-point victory over Woodbine.

The No. 7-ranked Spartans prevailed 46-7 to push their record to 2-0 on the season, though Exira-EHK coach Tom Petersen feels lucky just to get out of this one with a “W.”

“We finished with 20-some turnovers and not a lot of execution on either side,” he said afterwards. “It was a very sloppy game, and I think a lot of it has to do with the kids getting a feel for their new roles. We’ve got some new personnel sub-ing in and sub-ing out, and that is going to take some time. But that doesn’t excuse this, we had a lot of mental errors tonight.”

Exira-EHK led 23-21 at the half, and pushed its lead to seven points (30-23) as the third quarter rolled along.

In Spartans’ girls basketball culture, a great deal of emphasis is placed on the first few minutes of the third quarter, in terms of setting the tone for the second half and thus, the rest of the way.

Woodbine struggled to hit shots for the first six minutes of the third, though the Spartans fared only slightly better, and missed a prime opportunity to seize the momentum for good.

“You need to take advantage of that and jump on it, we didn’t do that,” coach Petersen says of the third quarter.

Missed opportunities and high percentage shots that didn’t fall threatened to derail the Spartans’ efforts. Though, the fog would lift in the fourth quarter, and Exira-EHK was able to pull away in the waning moments.

Exira-EHK junior Rachel Smith led all scorers with 16 points and Kennedy Madsen joined her in double figures at 10 points, though seven different players would find their way into the scorebook Friday.

The Spartans are slated to play back-to-back nights with Guthrie Center set to come to town Saturday night.

Coach Petersen says the Spartans are going to need a better effort, and need to put this one behind them moving forward.

“Our shot selection in general was not overly impressive…we just need to be able to finish,” coach Petersen says. “We’ve got open looks from two or four feet, and we aren’t finishing anything. That can come back to haunt us.”

Game Scoring (12/06)

EXIRA-EHK (2-0): Rachel Smith 16, Kennedy Madsen 10, Claire Paulsen 7, Maggie Rasmussen 6, Mara Burmeister 3, Sydney Parker 2, Taylor Paulsen     Free Throws: 12/18

WOODBINE (2-1): Shelby Behrendt 11, Megan Maaske 7, Emily Schmidt 6, Daisha Nuzum 5, Melissa Sherer 3, Allison Lee 3, Heather Smith 2     Free Throws: 6/16