The Exira-EHK Spartans girls basketball team will get to step on the State Tournament stage on Wednesday afternoon. The Spartans (23-0) will square off against the MMCRU Royals (21-2) in a Class 1A Quarterfinal game that is set for a 4:00 p.m. tipoff. We’ll have coverage on KJAN starting with pregame at 3:00 p.m.

The Spartans are coming off a thrilling Regional Final win over Lenox in which the Spartans built a 20 point halftime lead, gave it all way, and then finished strong in the fourth to advance 66-56. The Royals also prevailed by ten in their Regional Final win over Westwood 53-43.

The Spartans have been led by three players averaging double figures in scoring. Macy Emgarten with 18, Quinn Grubbs with 16.2, and Mollie Rasmussen with 13.7. The Spartans are averaging 65 points per game as a team. Spartans Head Coach Tom Petersen has been proud of the growth the team has shown through a tough year.

Coach Petersen also said the girls have done a great job adjusting their roles after senior Tatum Grubbs suffered an injury.

The Royals have four players that average double figures: Emily Dreckman with 15, Ellie Hilbrands with 12, and Jaylen Bork with 11. The Royals are averaging 66 points per game as a squad. Coach Petersen said the outside shooting of the Royals is a concern and he knows they will have to slow down Hilbrands inside.

We’ll have coverage of the Quarterfinal match-up today on KJAN. Pregame starts at 3:00 p.m. with tip-off scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Chris Parks and Joe Wollum will have the call from Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.3MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Creighton coach Greg McDermott has apologized for urging his players to “stay on the plantation” in a postgame locker room talk following a loss over the weekend. In a statement posted on Twitter, McDermott said he used a “terribly inappropriate analogy in making a point about staying together as a team despite the loss.” McDermott, who is white, acknowledged saying: “Guys, we got to stick together. We need both feet in. I need everybody to stay on the plantation. I can’t have anybody leave the plantation.” McDermott said he immediately recognized he had made an “egregious mistake.” Creighton has a racially diverse roster that includes several Black players.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Kai Jones came off the bench to score a season-high 17 points and lead four Texas players in double figures and the 15th-ranked Longhorns pulled away from Iowa State early in an 81-67 win. Texas led for all but 22 seconds while beating the Cyclones for the eighth time in 10 meetings. Iowa State was led by Jalen Coleman-Lands, who scored 22 points. Courtney Ramey added 14 points for the Longhorns and Greg Brown and Matt Coleman III each had 12.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — An attorney for the family of a 5-year-old girl critically injured in a crash involving former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid says the girl suffered a devastating brain injury that has left her unable to speak or walk. Attorney Tom Porto said Tuesday in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” that the family of 5-year-old Ariel Young wants to see “the most serious charges and the most serious sentence that Britt could ever receive.” The girl has been hospitalized since the Feb. 4 crash in which Reid’s truck slammed into two cars on the side of the road. Police have said Reid told investigators he had “two or three drinks” along with prescribed Adderall before the crash. No charges have been filed.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The top-ranked Iowa wrestling team will enter the Big Ten tournament this weekend after having not wrestled since Feb. 7. The defending conference champion Hawkeyes had to pause team activities for 10 days because of positive COVID-19 tests. During that time all the Hawkeyes could do was run outdoors to maintain their conditioning. The pause coincided with the record cold spell in the Midwest. Alex Marinelli says he couldn’t imagine athletes in other sports going out for runs when the temperature was 15 degrees below zero. The Hawkeyes shared the Big Ten regular-season title with Penn State.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Former Iowa basketball player Dr. P. Sue Beckwith has given $7 million to endow the Hawkeyes’ head coaching position. Known as Sue Beckwith when she played for the Hawkeyes from 1976-80, she received her medical degree from Iowa in 1984 and practices in Des Moines. Lisa Bluder and all future head women’s basketball coaches will hold the title of P. Sue Beckwith, MD, Head Women’s Basketball Coach. Beckwith has now given nearly $9 million to Iowa women’s athletics.

Substate 1 @ CB Thomas Jefferson: CB Abraham Lincoln 58, Southeast Polk 43

Substate 2 @ East High:  Ames 57, Ankeny Centennial 37

Substate 3 @ Marshalltown: Johnston 65, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 63

Substate 4 @ Waterloo East: Cedar Falls 57, Cedar Rapids Washington 28

Substate 5 @ Clinton: Dubuque Senior 62, North Scott 40

Substate 6 @ Bettendorf: Pleasant Valley 57, Iowa City Liberty 46

Substate 7 @ Dallas Center-Grimes: Dowling Catholic 61, Valley 51

Substate 8 @ Indianola: Waukee 74, Ankeny 54

Class 3A Quarterfinals
#3 Unity Christian 70, #6 Roland-Story 42

Class 4A Quarterfinals
#1 Glenwood 79, #8 Wahlert Catholic 57
#4 Central DeWitt (16-2) vs. #5 North Scott (15-2) 1:00 p.m.
#2 Ballard 38, #7 Harlan 27
#3 Dallas Center-Grimes 43, #6 Bondurant-Farrar 32

Class 2A Quarterfinals
#1 Maquoketa Valley 51, #8 Rock Valley 35
#4 Nodaway Valley 53, #5 North Linn 47 (NV: Lindsey Davis 20pts, Maddax DeVault 17pts)

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Former Iowa basketball player Dr. P. Sue Beckwith has given $7 million to endow the Hawkeyes’ head coaching position. Known as Sue Beckwith when she played for the Hawkeyes from 1976-80, she received her medical degree from Iowa in 1984 and practices in Des Moines.

Lisa Bluder and all future head women’s basketball coaches will hold the title of P. Sue Beckwith, MD, Head Women’s Basketball Coach. Beckwith has now given nearly $9 million to Iowa women’s athletics.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The top-ranked Iowa wrestling team will enter the Big Ten tournament this weekend after having not wrestled since Feb. 7. The defending conference champion Hawkeyes had to pause team activities for 10 days because of positive COVID-19 tests. During that time all the Hawkeyes could do was run outdoors to maintain their conditioning. The pause coincided with the record cold spell in the Midwest.

FILE – Iowa’s Alex Marinelli, left, wrestles Ohio State’s Ethan Smith at 165 pounds during a NCAA Big Ten Conference wrestling dual in Iowa City, Iowa, in this Friday, Jan. 24, 2020, file photo. The interruption to the season led to the cancellations of two duals, meaning the top-ranked Hawkeyes will go into the Big Ten championships having not competed since Feb. 7. The meet is Saturday and Sunday in State College, Pennsylvania. The Hawks won last year’s conference title and Marinelli, 125-pounder Spencer Lee and 149-pounder Pat Lugo took individual championships.(Iowa City Press-Citizen via AP, File)

Alex Marinelli says he couldn’t imagine athletes in other sports going out for runs when the temperature was 15 degrees below zero. The Hawkeyes shared the Big Ten regular-season title with Penn State.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — An attorney for the family of a 5-year-old girl critically injured in a crash involving former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid says the girl suffered a devastating brain injury that has left her unable to speak or walk. Attorney Tom Porto said Tuesday in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” that the family of 5-year-old Ariel Young wants to see “the most serious charges and the most serious sentence that Britt could ever receive.”

The girl has been hospitalized since the Feb. 4 crash in which Reid’s truck slammed into two cars on the side of the road. Police have said Reid told investigators he had “two or three drinks” along with prescribed Adderall before the crash. No charges have been filed.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Radio Iowa) – While some Iowans avoid winter weather at all costs, many others enjoy the outdoors at this time of year through paddling, which can provide exercise, solitude and a chance to see the amazing beauty of nature. While there will be plenty of melting with this week’s above-normal temperatures, many of the state’s lakes, rivers and streams are still iced over, but Susan Stocker at the Iowa D-N-R says kayakers are discovering plenty of open water. “There actually is and on portions of the Des Moines River, there is open water and even on the sloughs of the Mississippi, just not far from the channel,” Stocker says. “Yeah, avid paddlers are finding open water.”

Forecasters are calling for highs in the 40s for the rest of the week across northern Iowa, with 50s in central and southern Iowa. Even when air temperatures are above average, the water is still dangerously cold, so she says paddlers should dress for the water temperature, not the air — and expect to go into the water. The piece of outerwear known as a “float coat” may be a good option, she says, as it’s essentially a life jacket that looks like a typical winter coat. Stocker says, “Though float coats may not be the perfect gear for them, make sure that they have a life jacket and/or a dry suit which can serve as flotation.”

Spring won’t arrive until March 20th, and while you may spot a few canoes during the Iowa winter, Stocker says they’re more of a rarity now. “It’s kayakers this time of year, single or double kayaks, and then they add skirts to keep the water out and keep them a little drier,” Stocker says. “It’s a few more pieces of equipment to adapt to the cooler temperatures.”

Especially during the winter, don’t paddle alone, she says, use the buddy system. Also, bring a change of clothes in a dry bag, a first aid kit and a protected cell phone, and Stocker adds, let a friend or loved one know where you are going and when you are expected to return. Find the DNR’s interactive paddling map at: www.iowadnr.gov/Things-to-Do/Canoeing-Kayaking/Where-to-Paddle