Spartan girls seek healthy postseason

 ELK HORN (Feb. 10) -- Eight days is a long time between games, but Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton girls basketball coach Tom Petersen isn’t worried about rust as his team prepares for the start of Class 1A regional play.
 The 8th-ranked Spartans simply need to get healthy and back in basketball shape following a recent team-wide battle with the flu.
 Exira-EHK finished out the regular season with a 61-40 win over Boyer Valley last Monday, but the fatigue was obvious as the Spartans improved to 19-1 overall and capped a 15-0 Rolling Valley Conference championship. Petersen’s squad will host Sidney (14-7) in a Region 7 quarterfinal Tuesday (Feb. 18).
 “This is the first time we’ve [all] been together in a week,” Petersen said after the February 10 victory. “We haven’t actually practiced as a whole team in nine days. We’ve just got to get our feet back under us."
 The Spartans’ illness woes peaked on Friday, Feb. 7, when they were forced to cancel their game at CAM due to a shortage of players.
 “If we could have had five girls healthy we would have played. Unfortunately, we didn’t,” Petersen said. “I had five home with Influenza B and then two (more) went home sick during the day, so we were down to two. Once it got started, it was a domino effect.”
 After a bit of a slow start Monday, the Spartans used their tenacious full court press to fuel an 11-2 run. They built their first-half lead to 14 points and went to the half up 34-21 on Kamryn Waymire’s three with :02 left.
 Macy Emgarten finished with a team-high 18 points, 13 rebounds and four steals and Quinn Grubbs had 16 points, four steals and three assists. The Spartans also got nine points from Ellie Schultes, eight from Waymire and six from Tatum Grubbs, shooting 37.3 percent as a team.
 The Spartans have won 19 straight games since opening the season with a 20-point home loss to Logan-Magnolia. They will face a senior-laden Sidney team Tuesday and the region also includes Stanton (20-2), Audubon (15-7), 12th-ranked Central Decatur (18-3) and a battle-tested 10-11 St. Albert team.

CLASS 1A, REGION 7 GIRLS BASKETBALL
First Round Results: Thursday, February 13
Sidney 53, Fremont-Mills 36               Central Decatur 61, Mormon Trail 11
Stanton 73, Diagonal 30                     Lenox 51, Bedford 50
Audubon 77, Orient-Macksburg 37    St. Albert 92, Essex 27
                                                           East Mills 43, Southwest Valley 29
Quarterfinal Pairings: Tuesday, February 18
Sidney (14-7) at #8 Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton (19-1), 7:00 p.m.
Audubon (15-7) at Stanton (20-2), 7:00 p.m.
Lenox (10-12) at #12 Central Decatur (18-3), 7:00 p.m.
East Mills (14-6) at C.B. St. Albert (10-11), 7:00 p.m.
Regional Semifinals: Friday, February 21, 7:00 p.m.
Top Bracket QF winners at Elk Horn; Bottom bracket QF winners at Creston
Regional Final: Wed., Feb. 26 - at Harlan or Creston, 7:00 p.m.