Spartans hit .500 mark behind Nelson’s 33-point night

 ELK HORN (Dec. 20) -- The Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton boys basketball team evened its record at 3-3 going into the holiday break with a 55-39 home win vs. West Harrison here Friday night.
 Senior Creighton Nelson had another big game for the Spartans, making 12-of-14 field goals and 9-of-11 free throws on his way to 33 points and 11 rebounds. It was his second 33-point outing of the season and his fourth game scoring at least 20 points.
 Exira-EHK, now 2-3 in Rolling Valley Conference play, built a 20-6 lead after one quarter, led 31-15 at the half and was able to stave off a second-half rally by the 2-5 Hawkeyes.
 Hunter Andersen and Tyler Petersen both hit a pair of 3-pointers for the Spartans and tallied 10 and nine points, respectively. Easton Nelson rounded out the scoring column with three points and also grabbed eight boards.
 The game featured 19 turnovers by both teams and a large free throw disparity as Exira-EHK made 15-of-23 free throws and West Harrison was 1-of-2.