Spartan girls headed back to ‘The Well’

 AVOCA (Feb. 19) -- The final chapter has yet to be written in the basketball storybook of Sophia Peppers and Kealey Nelson, but the plot thus far has certainly been well worth the read.
 Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton’s senior duo combined for 38 points and 19 rebounds Monday night, clinching a fourth consecutive trip to the Girls State Basketball Tournament as the seventh-ranked Spartans defeated No. 12 Boyer Valley 66-41 in the Class 1A, Region 7 final at Avoca.
 Exira-EHK trailed 15-12 at the end of a quarter before outscoring the Bulldogs 22-8 in the second period and taking complete command with a 20-2 run in the fourth.
 The Spartans (23-1) will be seeded fourth in the eight-team 1A bracket and will face fifth-seeded AGWSR (21-2) in a state quarterfinal matchup Wednesday, Feb. 28 (3:15 p.m.) in Des Moines.
 Peppers and Nelson are no strangers to the Wells Fargo Arena floor, having already played in five state tourney games there as well as one regular season game this past December. Going into next week, Peppers (1,600) and Nelson (1,064) have combined to score 2,664 career points while playing on teams with a 95-5 record.
 “I’m kind of speechless,” Exira-EHK head coach Tom Petersen said of his seniors’ four-year run. “I don’t know how many programs have done that... For those two to do that... it blows me away."
 Spartan sophomore Kamryn Waymire hit two 3-pointers to help spark the finishing run and shot 3-for-5 from long range. Tatum Grubbs tallied 11 points and three assists while Nelson had 14 points and seven rebounds. Peppers’ team-high totals included 24 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, four steals and three blocks.