In a game the Spartans led 20-17 at halftime, the tables turned when the Remsen St. Mary’s Hawks opened the third quarter on a 17-0 run that ultimately secured a 51-43 victory.
“We had a shaky third quarter obviously,” said Spartans Head Coach Tom Petersen. “We just didn’t have a lot of things go our way in the third, but for our girls to battle and not quit, our girls did that tonight and that’s all I can ask out of them.”

With a nickname of “The Human Muscle” it should probably come as no surprise Zane Bendorf has had such a successful high school wrestling career. However, Bendorf wasn’t always enamored with the sport.

STUART – The AHSTW Vikings didn’t underestimate the Van Meter Bulldogs and controlled the game from start to finish Tuesday night winning 64-49 to earn a chance to play for the 2A-7 Championship. Senior Brayden Lund led the way with 20 points.

In a game that was back-and-forth for three quarters, the Cyclones pulled ahead for good in the fourth quarter en route to a 54-43 first round tournament victory over their rival, the Lewis Central Titans. Junior Franz Reisz led the way for the Cyclones with 15 points.
“It’s always good to beat LC,” Reisz said. “We just came out and kind of started off flat, but we just got over the hump and played really well.”

The HCHS girls varsity basketball team’s playoff journey has come to an end with a devastating road loss to the Des Moines Christian Lions in the Class 3A Regional Tourament finals game.
“We were so proud of them,” said Cyclones Head Coach Zach Klaassen. “We started 0-2 on the season and to be one game away from the state tournament is pretty special. Not a lot of teams get to experience that.”

The Exira-EHK girls varsity basketball team punched their ticket to the Regionals Finals of tournament play pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 63-47 victory over the Coon Rapids-Bayard Crusaders Friday night at home.
“It’s very fortunate to be honest with you,” said Spartans Head Coach Tom Petersen. “We didn’t play well whatsoever and just had a very uncharacteristic night.”

The AHSTW Vikings girls basketball season has come to an end after a tough defeat in the Class 2A – Region 8 Second Round Tournament game by the Underwood Eagles on the road, 51-36.

After losing to the Atlantic Trojans in close fashion Feb. 7, the Cyclones rebounded nicely with a 46-37 victory in the Class 3A – Region 5 Second Round tournament game.
“It’s awesome,” said Senior Ella Plagman. “It was pretty rough losing to them last week, but I knew that it would just give us more motivation to win this week when it really mattered.”

The Exira-EHK girls varsity basketball team prevented the Ar-We-Va Rockets from blasting off at home Tuesday night, cruising to a 56-20 first round tournament victory. This was the first game for the Spartans in a week due to the formatting of the tournament schedule.

Senior Reed Hinners was the star of the night leading the way with 23 points, helping the Wolves soundly defeat the Audubon Wheelers, 60-44 at home in the 2A-7 First Round playoff game.

The HCHS girls varsity basketball team stamped their ticket to the next round of the playoffs after a massive win Saturday night at home against the Red Oak Tigers, 61-14.
“He [Klaassen] told us at practice this is not going to be like the normal competition that we see and we just need to stay up at our level and we’ll be successful,” said Junior Erica Rust.

DENISON - Senior Cole Scheffler dropped in a layup with less than 10 seconds to go Thursday night on the road, 52-50 over the Denison-Schleswig Monarchs that got the AHSTW Vikings their 19th win of the season on the road.
“Well I told my friends right before that I’m clutch and I saw they were doubling on Brayden [Lund], so I knew I had to take it to the rack,” Scheffler said.

The HCHS girls varsity basketball team ran into the very hot Atlantic Trojans, having won seven consecutive games and beat the Cyclones in a nail biter, 53-51. For the Cyclones, it was their first game since last Monday at home against Winterset.

Senior Jace Gubbels led the way Tuesday night on the road against the Atlantic Trojans helping the Cyclones to a dominant 70-46 victory, earning their 12th win of the season. Head coach Mitch Osborn was out due to illness, so his son, Kevin, coached the Cyclones.
“It feels really good,” Gubbels said. “Our defense was stellar, holding them to under 50 points and we shot the ball really well. We just played as a team.”

Senior Makenzie Riley scored 18 points en route to a dominating victory over the Paton-Churdan Rockets for the Spartans 17th win of the season. The Spartans got back in the win column after dropping its previous match to the Woodbine Tigers Friday night on the road.