Submitted photo: The Emmetsburg girls basketball team won the Twin Lakes Conference championship and qualified for state for the first time since 1999.

DES MOINES — The 2025-26 season will already go down as a memorable one for the Emmetsburg girls.

For the first time since 1999, the E-Hawks qualified for the state tournament, capturing a Class 2A regional championship.

Emmetsburg (23-2 overall) will take to the court here on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. vs. Denver (22-2) in the quarterfinals from the Casey’s Center.

Overall, this marks the sixth appearance at state for the E-Hawks, who made it each season from 1990-1993. Emmetsburg’s last win at state came in 1993 when it was 6-on-6, as they made the semifinals before finishing fourth overall to Avo-Ha-Shelby-Tennant — now AHSTW.

“This team is amazing,” Emmetsburg head coach Anna Fiene said. “The way the play, the way they are so coachable and play together. You couldn’t ask for anything more and I am so proud of them.

“(Qualifying for state) has been a long time coming. They have worked extremely hard and if anyone deserved it, it’s this group.”

Rachel Schany, a senior state track champion, leads the team at 21 points per game, adding 8.5 rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Dylan Fiene adds 13 points, 5.5 rebounds, four steals and four assists, with Kylie Hoffman, Calista Joyce and Nora Nelson each scoring six per contest.

Schany, Hoffman, Joyce, Nelson and Ella Auten are seniors for Emmetsburg; Fiene is a junior. All six were a part of a 2023-24 team that featured just eight players on the roster, with seven seeing significant playing time.

“It’s such a surreal feeling,” Dylan Fiene said. “We’ve always dreamed about it and now it is coming true. I am so proud of all of my teammates.

“We have worked really hard, coming in on weekends, shooting and just putting in a lot of time and effort.”

During the regular season, the E-Hawks ended Newell-Fonda’s run atop the Twin Lakes Conference, snapping a 100-game TLC win streak by the Mustangs — a 1A state qualifier. Emmetsburg’s only losses came at the hands of Cherokee and Forest City by a combined nine points. Both of those teams qualified for the 3A state tournament.

As a program, Emmetsburg has nine consecutive seasons with at least 11 wins, including seven winning seasons during that stretch.

“Unreal,” Schany said. “It means everything (qualifying for state). We’ve been working for this (at the varsity level) for four years. It’s something we have dreamed about since we were little kids.”

The winner between Emmetsburg and Denver gets either defending state champion Hinton (20-1) or West Lyon (17-7) in the semifinals. Rock Valley (22-2) plays Iowa City Regina (19-5) and Central Lyon (19-4) squares off with Treynor (21-2) in the other quarterfinals.