(Elk Horn, IA) — Exira EHK and Boyer Valley split a basketball doubleheader on Friday night — the Spartan girls won the first game with a dominating performance 60-25 while the boys game went into overtime and the Bulldogs overcame shooting woes to win 49-45.
The Spartan girls were never really threatened with Taryn Petersen taking control of the game early — the sophomore had 15 points in the first quarter and finished with 23 in the game. Jaelynne Petersen added 16 points and Kadence Sporrer had 12. Exira EHK (9-3) led 25-9 at the end of one, 48-17 at the half and the game went into running clock early in the third quarter. Sylvia Sullivan had for Boyer Valley (7-8).
Post Game Interview with Taryn Petersen
In the second game, Exira EHK struggled with their shooting in the first quarter, going 2-12 from the field and trailed 11-7. They found their touch in the 2nd period as Josh Nelson finally got two baskets off offensive rebounds, Austin Rasmussen hit a three and Owen Juhl got a deuce. The Bulldogs continued to push it inside and maintained a 19-17 lead at the half.
Boyer Valley went ice cold in the third quarter, missing their first 15 shots before Tristen Burkhart hit a turn around jumper at the buzzer. The Spartans got two threes from Rasmussen, Juhl hit a triple and a 16-5 quarter gave Exira EHK a 33-24 lead.
The Bulldogs flipped the game in the 4th — Levi Reineke took over the game 10 points in the quarter and came all the way back to tie it at 35. Josh Nelson got a basket in the lane to make it 37-35 Spartans with 3:15 left. Burkhart got two free throws to tie it again. Rasmussen missed a three for Exira EHK but the Bulldogs missed three chances in the lane to take the lead. Rasmussen missed another three and Reinecke hit 1-2 from the free throw line to take a 38-37 lead. After each missed opportunities, Rasmussen finally got a triple to fall with 54.7 seconds left to give the Spartans a 40-38 lead. Boyer Valley answered quickly as Brody Koski hit an incredible lay-up over his head with 40 seconds left to tie at 40. Both teams committed turnovers late to spoil a chance for a win.
In the overtime, the Bulldogs got contributions from unlikely sources. Logan Thomsen averaged 2.5 points a game but hit two straight baskets to give Boyer Valley a 44-40 lead. Cannon Hansen hit two FT for the Spartans but Michael Davis got his first basket of the night to push it back to a 4 point lead. Josh Nelson would can a three to cut it to one point but Koski hit 3 straight free throws to put the game away after he had missed five in a row earlier in the game.
Boyer Valley (5-8) was led by Levi Reineke with 16 points, Logan Thomsen and Tristen Burkhart each had 10 and Brody Koski added 9. The Bulldogs were 1-16 from the field in the third quarter but were 10-15 shooting in the fourth quarter and OT combined.
Exira EHK (2-10) was led by Josh Nelson with 15 points, Austin Rasmussen had 12, Cannon Hansen 8 and Owen Juhl added 7.
