(Remsen) #4 St. Mary’s, Remsen is the opponent for Exira-EHK in the Class 1A Region 4 Final on Thursday evening. The matchup will air on KS95.7 FM.
The Hawks have been a program on the rise in recent years. They’ve gone increased the win total in three consecutive seasons from 4 to 14 to 21 and now they are 22-1 this year. “To be honest we have a really good class of juniors that have really turned the program around. The three years prior we were down to six girls and only five on the court because one was injured. I really respect them, they helped maintain the program and then these girls have really infused it with a lot of energy and talent.”
19-4 Exira-EHK has the respect of St. Mary’s coach Scott Willman. “They have a history of being at the state tournament. They’ve got a small squad like we do. They’ve got eight girls. What they have going for them thought is Quinn Grubbs. She is one heck of a shooter. We have to make sure we get out and defend her. Take advantage where we can. I think we may have a little bit more speed than they do, but definitely highlight Grubbs. Make sure we our on her on all her turns. She will go deep on her three’s.”
This is the 2nd straight trip to the regional finals for St. Mary’s, Remsen. Fortunately for them they won’t be up against powerhouse Newell-Fonda who ended their season last year. “Newell had come off of a couple of state championships and were #1 at the time. We had a young team with all sophomores starting. This year we are a little bit older, but we aren’t taking anything for granted. We know Exira-EHK has a really fine program. We’ve got to be on our mark tonight.”
The 4th rated Hawks had to dig deep to oust #15 Kingsley-Pierson 39-37 in the regional semi’s. “That was a gut check game for sure. They improved throughout the year. We’d seen them once earlier. The second time we’d seen them they had a much improved defense.”
Four players average at least 9.3 points per game for coach Willman’s team. They are led by Whitney Jensen at 14.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 4.5 steals per contest. She’s shooting 54.2% from the field and 43.3% beyond the arc.
St. Mary’s, Remsen coach Scott Willman:
