A pair of ranked Grundy Center teams will take the floor Friday night when the Spartans host South Hardin for a North Iowa Cedar League basketball doubleheader, which’ll air on 99 The Wave.
The Grundy Center girls are 11-1 and ranked No. 10 in Class 2A, riding a four-game winning streak after a 55-11 victory over East Marshall on Tuesday. Ava Mundt leads the Spartans in scoring and ranks second in the NICL with 121 rebounds, while Maddy Hendershot paces the team in assists and ranks fifth in the conference in that category.
South Hardin’s girls (4-6) will be playing their third game of the week. The Tigers split earlier contests, falling to Iowa Falls-Alden on Monday before rebounding with a win over AGWSR on Tuesday. Ayda Eller leads South Hardin in scoring and assists, while Kathleen Mosher tops the team on the boards.
The Spartan boys are 10-0 and ranked No. 7 in Class 2A. Judd Jirovsky leads the team in points and assists and tops the NICL in steals with 45, while Ryder Slifer leads the Spartans in rebounding.
The Tiger boys (6-4) also split a pair of contests earlier in the week, defeating Iowa Falls-Alden before dropping a conference game against AGWSR. Sam Benson leads the team in scoring and rebounds.
Defense and rebounding figure to be key factors in the boys game. Grundy Center is allowing 47.5 points per game this season, while South Hardin is giving up 46.6.
Tigers Head Coach John Phillips says these have been team priorities for the Tigers all season long.
“The two biggest items that we always preach: if we’re playing good defensive pressure and we win the rebound battle, you know, we’re getting those 50-50 balls. Usually, the team that does that comes out on top, ” says Phillips.
Tip-off begins at 6:15 p.m. with pregame coverage starting at 6.
