The Exira-EHK Spartans Boys Basketball team ended their season with a 56-49 loss to the Woodbine Tigers in the Regional Championship game in the Class 1A-Region 8 bracket. The Spartans were led in scoring that night by Cash Emgarten who had 15 points.

Exira-EHK boys were leading scorer this season was senior Cash Emgarten who scored 428 points and averaged 18 points per game.

The Spartans will be losing seven seniors to graduation this year: Aiden Flathers, Cole Brabham, Cash Emgarten, Jameson Kilworth, Jonas LaCanne, Jaiden Pettepier and Jackson Radcliff.

Spartans coach Tony Santistaben talked about playing Woodbine Tigers for the third time this season.

Coach Santistaben had this to say about what he told his team in the locker room after the Woodbine game.

Coach Santistaben commented how on how special it was to coach this years seniors.

Coach Santistaben talked about the big year Senior Cash Emgarten had.

Coach Santistaben said that he has goals in mind but needs to find out what kind of team he will have next year.

The Spartans ended the season with a 19-5 overall record and went 14-2 in the Rolling Valley Conference, and the coaches and players are looking forward to seeing what they can do next season.

The Iowa Hawkeye men open the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday night by taking on one of the league’s hottest teams in Ohio State. The Hawkeyes are 18-13 after closing the regular season by getting thumped at home by 13th ranked Illinois. The Buckeyes are 19-12 and have won five of their last six since the firing of coach Chris Holtman a month ago.

That’s Iowa coach Fran McCaffery who says the Buckeyes have played well under interim coach Jake Diebler.

McCaffery says the Buckeyes responded after the firing of Holtman.

McCaffery expects both teams to push the tempo.

McCaffery on the changes Diebler has made since becoming the interim coach.

The Northern Iowa women take the number four seed into this week’s Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in the Quad Cities. After a 1-9 start to an injury plagued season the Panthers posted a 14-6 Valley record.

That’s UNI coach Tanta Warren. The Panthers open Friday afternoon against the winner of Thursday’s game between Illinois State and Evansville.

Warren says the Panthers have battled adversity to get to this point.

The Panthers were the preseason Valley favorites and enter the tournament having won six of their last seven games.

The Wartburg College women’s basketball team is two wins away from a national championship. The Knights play Smith College on Thursday night in the NCAA Division III Final Four in Columbus, Ohio. It is the third Final Four in program history.

That’s Wartburg coach Bob Amsberry who says the moment won’t be too big for his team.

Amsberry says one of their biggest strengths is the ability to succeed with different styles of play.

New York University and Transylvania meet in the other national semifinal.

Iowa State guard Curtis Jones says the seventh ranked Cyclones have focused on offense as they get ready for Thursday night’s quarterfinal round game at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. In the last four games ISU has averaged 61 points and only managed 58 in Saturday’s loss at Kansas State. They will open against the winner of tonight’s game between Texas and K-State.

Jones says everybody has a role on the offensive end.

Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger says there are a lot of factors that have affected the production on offense, including the grind of a tough Big-12 race.

Otzelberger two areas of emphasis this week have been ball movement and screening.

Iowa State is 24-7 and Otzelberger likes the identity of his team heading into the post season.

STLOUIS, Mo. –Graduate guard Taylor McAulay has been recognized for her work in the Des Moines community as one of 12 State Farm Good Neighbor Award winners in the winter season, the Missouri Valley Conference announced this afternoon.

McAulay, a native of Lino Lakes, Minn., is pursuing her Master of Science degree in Health Informatics and Analytics. She has made multiple Dean’s Lists and MVC Honor Rolls during her time as a Bulldog.

Taylor’s community service includes active volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club and Miracle League of Urbandale. She has also been involved in the Hospital Elder Life Program at Unity Point and participated in social nights at The Arbondale independent living facility. She has also been active at the Unity Point Cancer Center.

On the court, McAulay has started all 32 games for Drake this season and averages 9.6 points per game, 2.9 rebounds per game, and 1.9 assists per game.

To be eligible for the award, the student-athlete must be in good academic standing, must demonstrate good citizenship through good sportsmanship and significant community service, and must participate in a sport, during the season of recognition.  The Valley will recognize 12 student-athletes three times annually (Fall, Winter, Spring), for a total of 36 honorees.

ATLANTA – Iowa State sophomore Tamin Lipsey has been named a semifinalist for the 2024 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Presented by AXIA Time.

Of the 11 players named as semifinalist, three of them are from the Big 12. Lipsey is the only underclassmen to be named a semifinalist.

Lipsey has been stuffing the stat sheet all season, averaging 12.5 points, 4.8 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game. He is one of just 17 NCAA Division I men’s basketball players since 1996-97 to average those numbers in a season. Lipsey was named to the All-Big 12 First Team and Big 12 All-Defensive Team earlier this week.

The No. 7 Cyclones return to action Thursday night, facing Texas or Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship Quarterfinals. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN2 in Kansas City.

Fifth ranked Texas raced out to a 20-point first half lead and beat the Iowa State women 70-53 to win the Big-12 Championship in Kansas City. The Cyclones are 20-11 and will wait to see where they are headed in the NCAA Tournament.

That’s ISU coach Bill Fennelly. A team with several new players coming into the season will now get ready for the next challenge.

Freshman center Audi Crooks led Iowa State with 25 points as the Cyclones tried to fight back after digging an early hole.

Crooks averaged just over 24 points in being named to the All-Tournament team.

The Atlantic Boys track team has been preparing for another great track season. They have been practicing for the past couple of weeks to prepare for their next meet. The Trojans track team have been taking advantage of this nice weather and getting outdoors for most of the practices. Atlantic team is made up of over 40 plus high schoolers and are coached this season by Abby Becker.

Coach Becker gave a recap on how last years track season went.

Coach Becker commented on how well practice has been going.

Coach Becker talked about what her team has been working on in practice.

Coach Becker broke down the roster and said there is even amount of athletes out for this years team, right around the same number as last years team.

Coach Becker said the team has few goals for this season.

The Trojans next track meet will be an indoor meet on Saturday March 16th at Northwest Missouri State University. That meet will get underway at 11:30 a.m.