(Exira) Exira-EHK is listed at #3 in the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union preseason rankings for girls basketball.
The Spartans bring back nearly all of their productivity from last year’s state tournament team. Several of the players have at least three years of varsity experience. “We are fortunate to have five girls that have played quite a bit of basketball together. Having a feel for each other is going to help us out, but we have a long way to go.”
Last season Macy Emgarten averaged 17.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Quinn Grubbs posted 16.2 points per contest, Mollie Rasmussen 13.4, and Shay Burmeister 7.8. “Having that experience helps, but at the same time this is not the same team that we were. It’s just different. I tried to get that through to the other kids that it’s never the same. There’s gonna be a bigger bullseye on the chest. There’s a lot of teaching going on. I think our top five have a long way to go as far as paying attention to detail.”
Exira-EHK’s roster will be a little bit deeper than last year when they featured eight players. This year they have 11 players out. “We are going to have to develop that chemistry. Hannah Nelson was there a year ago, she’s a sophomore. Katie Anderson is a junior that came out. Then we have some freshmen. They are just learning. These first few weeks are kind of an eye opener. It’s information overloud so it’s going to take them a while to adapt to the physicality and the speed, but it’s a good group of kids that are working really hard in practice.”
Exira-EHK posted a 24-1 record last season. Their only loss was to Bishop Garrigan in the state semifinals.
The Spartans start the year November 30th at West Harrison. We’ll have their game next Friday against Glidden-Ralston on the air on KSOM.
Exira-EHK coach Tom Petersen:
