The winter sports season will resume Friday when Grundy Center travels to AGWSR for an NICL basketball doubleheader. It’ll air on 99 The Wave and RadioOnTheGo’s YouTube channel.
The boys game will feature teams which had very different starts to their seasons in December. The Spartans (5-0) will look to stay undefeated as they start the new year. Having given up just 50 points per game to opponents, Head Coach Owen Thomas says the team’s defense has helped set the tone for the season.
“The team average last year was only 50-some points against us,” Thomas says. “This year we have a lot of athletes who are mixing it up, trying to use our speed and pressing more. And then also just running a half court trapping defense, which is huge for us because we’re generating turnovers, which turns into offense. Good defense for us right now for us looks like good traps and being in the gaps and being over in help side. Especially that first quarter of the game against Dike-New Hartford, we really struggled being in the help side against Dawson Dietrick, who is extremely talented. But we got too far over in help and they dropped it down and he killed us that first quarter and then ended up getting in foul trouble. But those are the little things we’ve got to work on. But I think for us, it all just comes down to energy and effort. And if those guys are competing on the defensive end and stepping up and making stops, that’s all I can ask for.”
AGWSR (0-6) ended 2025 with three games in three days, falling to #9 (2A) Union, South Hardin and Dike-New Hartford. Head Coach Ryley Schipper saw growth through that stretch, showcasing how the team can continue to develop through games. He says with a busy stretch of games to start 2026, depth will be put to the test.
“We really play seven games in about 11 days coming out of break,” Schipper says. “So like I said, our depth, we know we needed to be up. Guys are going to have to be locked in on the scouting reports we give shortly after school. We’re not going to get a ton of practice time in there, which for a team that is struggling at times can be very difficult. The three back-to-back-to-back nights proved to me that our guys are capable of doing it. It’s really going to be a test, but I’m excited to see what the guys can do.”
In the girls game, #10 (2A) Grundy Center will look to bounce back from its first loss, 48-46 to #5 (1A) Gladbrook-Reinbeck in the final game of December. AGWSR will go for its first win after some lopsided losses to begin the season.
Coverage will start at 6:00 p.m., followed by the tipoff at 6:15.
