(Elk Horn) Exira-EHK will have a familiar foe when they take the floor on Tuesday night for a Class 1A District 15 title game. The Spartans meet AHSTW, a team they lost to by 16 points in the regular season. The game will air on KSOM with pregame coverage starting at 6:45.
Exira-EHK enters the contest with a mark of 15-8. They held off IKM-Manning in a close district semifinal game to keep their season alive. Despite a strong shooting night against the Vikings earlier this season they still suffered an 81-65 loss. “We played right along with them in the first half and actually led most of the half. In the last minute we went from up one to down five.” Coach Doug Newton says, “That kind of changed the momentum. When they came out in the second half they were pretty steady and scored consistently and we did not.” Exira-EHK shot 65.8% from the field in the loss and were led by 16 points from Aiden Flathers.
Coach Newton says his team is playing well together and that’s a big reason why they are still in contention. “We are playing a little together than we did at the start of the year. Most of the time we are pretty balanced in scoring.” Newton says, “We seem to be sharing the ball pretty well and getting the ball inside and outside. It’s been a group effort.”
AHSTW takes a 22-1 record into Tuesday’s matchup in Harlan. The Spartans will be tasked with slowing down AHSTW’s trio of Brayden Lund, Kyle Sternberg, and Raydden Grobe. Those three players combine to average 52.6 points per game. “They are all tough, tough matchups.” Newton says, “It’s tough, you just have to try and keep them in front and find them in transition and try to make some of the role players take some shots.” The winner will play either Coon Rapids-Bayard or West Harrison in a substate final on Saturday.
Exira-EHK coach Doug Newton:
