Spartan girls roll onward as Peppers scores 37

 ELK HORN -- Sophia Peppers dominated in the paint to the tune of 37 points and 13 rebounds Friday night, leading the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton girls past Boyer Valley 72-39 in a Class 1-A regional semifinal played at Elk Horn.
 Leading by just two points (24-22) at the midway mark of the second quarter, the third-ranked Spartans finished the first half on a 12-0 run, outscored the Bulldogs 29-11 in the third quarter and went ahead by 35 points early in the fourth to activate a running clock the rest of the way.
 The victory moved Exira-EHK (22-1) within one game of its third consecutive trip to the Girls State Basketball Tournament as the Spartans were set to take on Akron-Westfield (19-4) in the Region 1 final at Mapleton Monday night.
 If the Spartans come anywhere close to duplicating Friday’s mid-game performance, they will be a tough out for any opponent the rest of the way.