Rockets hand Exira-EHK another close loss

 CHURDAN (Dec. 19) -- Close losses continue to haunt the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton boys basketball team as the season calendar flips from December to January.
 On Tuesday night, the Spartans led the entire game until the last 22 seconds in a frustrating 53-50 defeat at Paton-Churdan. The Rockets outscored Sparty 15-6 in the final quarter.
 Exira-EHK is now 2-4 in Rolling Valley Conference games (and overall), with all four losses coming by three or four points.
 “I need to do a better job of preparing my kids for game situations,” said Spartans coach Doug Newton. “We continue to play in close ball games, but need to do a better job of maintaing leads and doing the things needed to seal a victory... We will have to get better at doing the little things that lead to wins. On a high note, I thought the third quarter was the best quarter we have played all season.”
 Dakota Rold, Trey Nelson and Cole Burmeister paced Exira-EHK with 11 points each, Trever Schulz scored eight and Josh Pettepier had seven.