North Mahaska’s girls’ basketball team takes on West Hancock tonight (2/27) at the Class 1A State Tournament in Des Moines. The Warhawks advanced to State by beating previously undefeated Seymour in last week’s Region 6 championship game.  North Mahaska Coach L.E. Moore says his team’s resilience is a reason they’ve made it to State.

“Seymour, they were never behind all year. so they had a hard time reacting to that situation. Whereas we’ve been behind in some games and had to come back.  It was a tough game and fortunately, we got through it and we’re looking forward to the next step.”

For many North Mahaska players, like junior Emma Tyrrel, going to State is something they’ve seen others do.

“We’ve been working on it since third grade.  And since we saw the 2012 girls go, we’ve just all really wanted it.  And so just to get it felt amazing.”

North Mahaska takes a 15-4 record into tonight’s game with West Hancock, who come in with a 23-1 record.  You can hear the North Mahaska/West Hancock game on KBOE 104.9FM and www.kboeradio.com starting at 5:00pm, with pregame at 4:45pm.  Following that, KBOE 104.9 FM will have Montezuma’s girls against CAM in another 1A State matchup.  That one tips off at 6:45pm.