(Elk Horn) Half of Exira-EHK’s offensive production came from their reserves Tuesday night in a 38-32 home win over CAM. The 9-1 Spartans grab first place outright in the Rolling Valley Conference with a month left in the season and extend their win streak to nine games. The 7-2 Cougars suffer their first loss since their season opener.
As the final score indicates, it was a defensive battle, especially in the 3rd quarter which saw just 14 combined points. Exira-EHK’s biggest flurry came late in the first quarter when they turned a 4-2 deficit into a 15-4 lead by scoring the final 13 points of opening quarter. The bulk of Exira-EHK’s early points came off of steals.
After being held scoreless for the final 3:30 minutes of the first quarter, CAM got some things on track offensively in the early stages of the 2nd. An 8-0 Cougar stretch got the visitors right back in the game, cutting the deficit to just three points at 15-12.
Exira-EHK, which led 21-15 at halftime, held off a couple of CAM comeback chances in the third quarter. Exira-EHK was held without a field goal for the first 5:30 of the 3rd quarter which kept CAM’s window of opportunity open. The Cougars tied the game at 22 on a Mallory Behnken 3-pointer. Moments later Allison Spieker was fouled on a two-point make to knot things at 24, but missed the free-throw and the Cougars were never any closer the rest of the night.
Shay Burmeister scored eight points to lead the team while Quinn Grubbs and Macy Emgarten each had seven. The output of Burmeister and Grubbs plus four points from Kamryn Waymire made for a big lift from the Spartan bench. In fact, the starting lineup had just one of the team’s four total field goals made in the 2nd half. Despite only hitting on a low percentage, Exira-EHK had a big advantage at the free-throw line going 14/31 compared to CAM’s 3/11.
CAM was led by Sammi Jahde’s 10 points and Zoey Baylor scored 9. The Cougars were forced to play much of the contest without starter Molly Venteicher who exited with a knee injury in the 1st quarter. In Venteicher’s absence Behnken emerged as a key presence with six points, 11 rebounds, and six blocks.
These teams meet again on February 7th in Anita.
