Spartan girls win wild regional final

    WINTERSET (Feb. 24) -- The Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton girls are going back to the State Basketball Tournament as the only surviving unbeaten in Class 1A.
 The fourth-ranked Spartans came out on top in a wild Class 1A, Region 8 final Wednesday night in Winterset, holding off No. 11 Lenox 66-56 to clinch their first state tourney berth in three years.
 Exira-EHK trailed 7-0 right off the bat, surged ahead 41-21 by halftime, then responded late after the Tigers (20-4) stormed back to tie things up in the fourth quarter.
 The Spartans (23-0) finished with a huge advantage at the free throw line, making 26-of-36 attempts for the game. Quinn Grubbs, who knocked down 14-of-19 foul shots, led all scorers with 31 points while Macy Emgarten added 20.
 Lenox was led by senior TJ Stoaks, who tallied 15 of her 22 points in the second half.
 Exira-EHK will be the fourth seed in the 1A state bracket and play fifth-seeded MMCRU (21-2) in a quarterfinal game on Wednesday, March 3, 4:00 p.m., inside Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

2021 Girls State Basketball Tournament • Wells Fargo Arena  •  Des Moines
Class 1A Quarterfinal Pairings: Wednesday, March 3
2:00 p.m. - #1 Algona Bishop Garrigan (23-1) vs. #8 Springville (21-4)
4:00 p.m. - #4 Exira-EHK (23-0) vs. #5 MMCRU (21-2)
6:00 p.m. - #2 Newell-Fonda (23-1) vs. #7 Kingsley-Pierson (23-1)
8:00 p.m. - #3 Saint Ansgar (22-1) vs. #6 Montezuma (22-1)
Semifinals: Friday, March 5 -- 2:00 p.m. & 4:00 p.m.
Championship Game: Saturday, March 6 -- 6:30 p.m.