Spartans drop season opener to Tigers on road

Woodbine’s Charlie Pryor, Nicole Hoefer, and Katy Pryor were the stars of the game as the Exira-EHK Spartans fell 58-50 to open their season against them. The girls scored 17, 13, & 11 respectfully.
“I was proud of the girls effort throughout the game,” said Spartan Head Coach Tom Petersen. “I think it is a great opener for us because it really shows areas that need to be improved.”
The Spartans got offensive production from Taryn and Jaelynn Petersen with Taryn scoring 21, and Jaelynn scoring 13, but no other Spartan got into double digits with the next highest scorer being Junior Harlee Fahn with six points.
“She [Taryn] is the point guard, and we need her on the floor to create opportunities, and she did a great job last night,” Petersen said.
With the game close at halftime, Petersen’s message was strong to the girls in the locker room.
“We struggle for the final two minutes of the first half, especially the last 35 seconds,” he said. “We got outscored 8-0, and it kind of hurt us.”
With this loss, the Spartans fall to 0-1 on the season, but will have a chance to redeem themselves Friday night at home at 6 p.m. against the Boyer Valley Bulldogs, who are coming off a dominant 59-13 home win to start their season against Paton-Churdan. The Bulldogs are led by Morgan Hast with 13 points, Jessica O’Day with nine rebounds, and Maria Puck with three assists.
Last season, the Bulldogs finished 8-15 making it all the way to the Class 1A – Region 5 Quarterfinal losing to the Westwood Rebels 77-11. The Bulldogs were led by Lauren Malone with 216 points, averaging 9.4 points per game, O’Day with 257 rebounds, and Puck with 74 assists.
“We just have to get better in practice every day,” Petersen said.  “I am more concerned about my kids than Boyer Valley. They will be tough and I know that, so we just need to fix some of the things from our first game.”