Spartans beat Audubon by 20, win streak hits 10

 ELK HORN (Jan. 12) -- As of last week, the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton boys basketball team had yet to crack the Associated Press top 10 rankings in Class 1A.
 What the senior-laden Spartans have done thus far is handle nearly every obstacle in their path.
 On Saturday afternoon, Exira-EHK extended its win streak to 10 games - all decided by at least 15 points - and improved to 12-1 overall with an impressive 75-55 non-conference home win over Audubon.
 Playing most of the third quarter without 6-foot-7 post man Dakota Rold, who was battling foul trouble, the Spartans treaded water with an eight-point lead, then opened the final stanza with a 20-5 run following Rold’s return to the floor.
 Senior forward Trever Schulz stepped up big time with a career-high 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting, Rold was 8-for-8 from the field and scored nine of his 18 in the fourth and point guard Cole Burmeister added 15 points for the Spartans, whose only loss was a 66-65 setback at eighth-ranked and unbeaten Ar-We-Va in early December.
 “I thought we sure stepped up and answered the bell,” said E-EHK head coach Doug Newton, who called the win a confidence builder against “a quality ball club.”
 The Spartans never trailed in the contest, building an early 16-8 lead and responding with a 13-3 run after the Wheelers (9-5 overall) rallied to tie the score at 18 on a Skyler Schultes three-pointer early in the second quarter.
 The Spartans shot 63 percent from the field and also knocked down 13-of-16 free throws while finishing plus-11 on the glass (30-19).
 Audubon was led by Lane Lawson’s 18 points and six rebounds.