(Exira, IA) — Last year Exira EHK and Audubon combined in girls basketball to produce a strong 16-7 season and missed the state tournament by one game. This year the two schools are together again but must overcome the loss of a key player.
Junior Jaelynn Petersen (14.3 ppg) has moved out of the district leaving a big void in the Spartans line-up. That will put more pressure on Sophomore Taryn Petersen who last year lead the team in scoring (19.4 ppg), steals (6.3 spg), and assists (3.6 apg). Petersen shot an incredible 224 threes a year ago which ranked 10th in the entire state and hit 28 percent of the time. Head Coach Tom Petersen says it just can’t be Taryn to replace Jaelynn it will have to be everybody
Petersen will turn to three key players to improve their game from last year — Senior Harlee Fahn (6.6 ppg, 7.1 ppg), Junior Kaden Sporrer (5.4 ppg, 4.6 rbg) and Sophomore Riley Miller (3.6 ppg) all have the possibility of contributing at a higher level
Petersen is also excited about the return of Brylie Andersen who started as a freshman but did not play last year and is a tremendous defensive player. Defense is one area that Peterson will emphasize a lot
Overall, Petersen says it is disappointing to lose some key players from last year but he believes the talent is there to make a successful season but it may not happen overnight
Exira EHK will not open their season until Tuesday, December 3 hosting Woodbine
