Emmetsburg, Ia (Northwest Iowa Now) – Our next edition of the Best teams of the KICD 9-County Area in the 2025-2026 Sports Year highlights Girls Basketball and the Emmetsburg E-Hawks.

Emmetsburg turned in a 14-10 record in 2024-2025, with an 8-3 record in a highly competitive Twin Lakes Conference. That team’s season came to an end in the 2A Region 6 Semifinals against eventual State Runner-Up Central Lyon. Not only did the E-Hawks return their starting 5 from that team for the 2025-2026 season, but every player on the Varsity roster.

After opening up the season with a 53-33 route of Western Christian of Hull, Emmetsburg took on another KICD 9-County Area team in Cherokee at home in early December. The Braves would end up with the 60-55 win in the early season tilt.

Emmetsburg responded to their first loss of the year by rattling off a winning streak of 10 games. That included their conference opener against GTRA 64-42 and a route of 4A Spencer 54-36.

That streak was stopped on January 12th on the road against Forest City in a 46-42 low scoring affair.

The E-Hawks wouldn’t drop another game for the remainder of the regular season, winning their last 9 games to go into the postseason at 20-2. In that winning streak, Emmetsburg went through a gauntlet of a stretch that featured the other top 3 teams in the Twin Lakes Conference; Sioux Central on the road January 20th who they routed 57-30, at home against Pocahontas Area January 23rd in a 52-39 victory, then a massive 49-48 win against the usual Queens of the Twin Lakes Newell-Fonda, essentially locking up the TLC Crown for the E-Hawks on January 27th.

Emmetsburg was sorted in as the #1 seed in Class 2A Region 5. The E-Hawks opened up the postseason with a 69-32 drubbing of North Butler. Garner-Hayfield-Ventura couldn’t get anything going against Emmetsburg either in the Semifinal as the E-Hawks won 63-44. The Regional Championship game was played in Hampton at Hampton-Dumont-CAL High School. It was a true neutral site, as both Emmetsburg and their opponents Maquoketa Valley had just shy of a 2-hour drive for the contest. Emmetsburg made a statement early, leading 19-9 after the first quarter, then 34-18 at the half. The E-Hawks would cost through the second half, winning 64-43, and advancing to the Class 2A Girls Basketball State Tournament in Des Moines.

Emmetsburg took on Denver in the 4-5 Matchup for the State Quarterfinals. Emmetsburg had another good start, leading 12-7 after the first quarter. Scoring was hard to come by in the second, as the E-Hawks and Cyclones combined for only 15 points, but Emmetsburg grew their lead and were up 21-13 going into the locker rooms. The 3rd Quarter was all Denver, as the Cyclones scored 21 to Emmetsburg’s 7. The E-Hawks outscored Denver down the stretch, but ultimately fell short 45-42, bringing their season to an end. Denver would fall in the Semifinal to the eventual State Runner-Up Hinton a couple days later.

During the 2025-2026 season, Emmetsburg averaged 57.1 points per game as a team, forcing just shy of 13 turnovers each contest. Rachel Schany was one of the State’s best all-around players, averaging 21 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.8 steals, and 2 blocks per game. Emmetsburg graduates 38 of their 57.1 average per game. The only returning starter is Dylan Fiene, who as a Junior averaged 12.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, led the team at 3.6 assists, and had 1.2 blocks per game.

This has been another edition of the KICD 9-County Area’s best teams of the 2025-2026 sports year. Boys Basketball will be next.