Undefeated boys basketball teams will meet Friday when Grundy Center hosts Aplington-Parkersburg in a North Iowa Cedar League doubleheader that’ll air on 99 The Wave.
The Grundy Center boys (5-0, 3-0 NICL-W) had just one game decided by fewer than 10 points in December, a 72-65 comeback win over East Marshall. With four returning starters from last year’s state tournament team, Head Coach Brent Thoren says juniors Judd Jirovsky and Brayden Davie have played key roles in rotation and spot starting roles.
“From the guard standpoint, those are big rebounds when you can just have that can come in and be kind of a spark plug and get extra possessions in the rebounding department,” Thoren says. “But then also his ability to shoot from the outside and stretch the floor for us is just a big compliment to our offense when you’re able to have those types of players. I mean, Judd’s very well documented about how he can attack the basket, just how explosive he can be, his inside outside game, and how he can break people down one-on-one. Those are just really unique traits that he has. I think that’s something that we’ve talked about with all of our player personnel, is just our ability to be unique individually and just kind of offer us a little bit something different from each level of player.”
Jalen Kirkpatrick leads the West with 20.4 points and is second in rebounds with 11 per game.
The Falcons (7-0, 3-0 NICL-C) will look for revenge after falling to the Spartans in last season’s district final. Head Coach Aaron Thomas says it’ll be a test both physically and schematically.
“They got a variety of ways,” Thomas says. “We know we’ve got to match their physicalness. We’ve got to take care of the ball. We’re going to have to rebound and then make sure we find their scores and their shooters from the perimeter while being ready to help on the inside. They’ll look to post any of those guys just with their strength and physicalness. So for us, we have to know their personnel. And then for us defensively, we’re going to have to be extremely solid. We have to make sure Kirkpatrick, Judd and Wallace and some of those guys aren’t getting wide open perimeter shots. They’re a handful without a doubt.”
Grundy Center won both the postseason and regular season meetings between the teams last season.
In the girls game, the Falcons (6-2, 2-1 NICL-C) will look to extend a two-game win streak. They’ve been impactful in the passing game with a Central-leading 16.1 assists per game, led by Quinnlyn Schultz with 6.5 and Eva Walker with 4.4 per game.
Grundy Center (5-2, 3-0 NICL-W) has won three straight, including a 64-18 thrashing of East Marshall to end December. They’ve clamped down defensively by holding opponents to just 34 points per game.
Coverage will start at 6:00 p.m., followed by the tipoff at 6:15.
