Spartans prevent Rockets from blasting off

The Exira-EHK Spartans girls basketball team rolled into a Thursday night showdown with the Ar-We-Va Rockets and dominated them on both ends of the floor to cruise to a 65-27 victory for their second consecutive win.

“We’ve just got to figure out when we attack, that’s when we find our rhythm,” said Spartan Senior Harlee Fahn. “It always starts on defense, and with defense you can just get out and go.”

Fahn scored the first basket of the game, which was followed by a mid-range jump shot from Sophomore Riley Miller before Rockets Sophomore Gabrielle Hundling connected for a 3-pointer putting her team back within one point.

The Spartan offense got going with an 11-0 run, forcing a timeout from Rocket head coach Janey Stoelk. When play resumed, Rockets Senior Azaya Martinenz made a 3-point shot, which was followed by an 8-0 Spartan run to close out the quarter.

“For us to be at our best, we’ve got to have everyone on the same page,” said Spartan Head Coach Tom Petersen. “It’s coming and we’re going to get there.”

Spartan Junior Jaelynn Petersen opened the second quarter with a mid-range jump shot  followed by back-to-back shots from Sophomore Taryn Petersen, which was later followed by an assist from Junior Kadence Sporrer to Miller, who went for a layup giving the Spartans a 31-6 lead forcing a timeout from Stoelk.

The Rockets would score the next two baskets coming out of the timeout. However, as the quarter was winding down, Taryn Petersen made another two shots with the final shot of the half coming from Hundling, giving the Spartans a 38-12 lead.

“We just had to come out and go get on a run,” Fahn said. “Just talk on defense, and have a lot of energy coming out in the second half.”

Taryn Petersen made a 3-point shot to open the third quarter, which was later followed by a mid-range shot from Miller and another play involving Taryn where she made a shot, but was fouled in the act of shooting, went to the free throw line, sinking the bucket to complete the 3-point play.

Towards the end of the quarter, Spartan Freshman Zoey Rasmussen got in on the action making two 3-pointers before the quarter ended with the Spartans leading 57-22 entering the final quarter.

Coach Petersen got a chance to bring in some of his reserves in the final quarter and it paid off with Freshman Spartan Brooklyn Snider scoring the final basket of the game, sending her teammates into an eruption of applause as the Spartans earned their eighth win of the season.

“It’s awesome and what a great pass from Lucy [Stanerson],” Petersen said. “We do that drill two on one every single day in practice, and they were going faster than they should have, but it was awesome. It really was to see them do that. It’s fun when you play as hard as you can, good things happen.”

The Spartans won’t rest for long returning to their home floor Friday for a matchup with the 7-7 Boyer Valley Bulldogs, who have won three of their four previous games. The Bulldogs are led by Sophomore Morgan Hast averaging 10 points per game, Junior Sylvia Sullivan averaging 10.4 rebounds per game, and Senior Maria Puck averaging 5.2 assists per game.

“We’ve got to get out and go,” Fahn said. “Have a lot of energy. What we’ve been working on all season with defense and rebounding.”