The Aplington-Parkersburg and Grundy Center basketball teams opened 2025 by splitting a North Iowa Cedar League crossover doubleheader Friday, as aired on 99 The Wave. The Falcons won the girls game 46-39 and the Spartans won the boys game 68-58.
In the girls game, the Falcons held a 10-8 lead after a tight first quarter. But the momentum swung AP’s way in the second quarter, piling on 21 points in the period and leading by as many as 16 points on their way to a 31-18 halftime advantage. In a low-scoring second half, the Falcons maintained the lead before the Spartans chipped away late with better shooting.
“I remember last year too, where it was at home, and we built a pretty big lead in the first quarter,” AP coach Brady Driscol says. “And they ended up coming back and winning that game. So we knew they’re not going to go away, no matter if we’re up 20 or up two. They’re always going to be right behind you. So keep the pedal to the metal and finish the game out. Tonight we had to do it in different ways, where we had some foul trouble to navigate around. And some bench players played a little more minutes than what they typically would. But they came in and did a great job of maintaining that lead for us. Even to the end, we had a couple players foul out, so they had to finish the game out there for us. And they kept getting it closer, getting it closer. But we hit some timely baskets and made stops when we need to and finished it out.”
The Falcons shot 51 percent for the game, their best of the season, with 10 points apiece by Ava Eddy and Eva Walker.
The Spartans made 17 of 27 free throws and dominated the offensive glass, but were limited to 27 percent shooting. Karlee Lynch led with 15 points.
In the boys game, the Spartans raced out to an 18-6 lead after the first quarter, and increased it to as many as 18 points in the first half. A nine-minute scoring drought by the Falcons allowed Grundy Center to steadily build their lead while capitalizing on turnovers to create extra scoring opportunities. Head Coach Brent Thoren.
“I thought our kids just did a really good job of just locking down defensively, making them earn a lot of their points,” Grundy Center coach Brent Thoren says. “I thought our transition game was really good tonight. I thought early on in the game, we really focused in the first quarter and a half especially defensively. Got some key turnovers and really stretched that lead. And then down the stretch, knocking down some free throws, really running our offense, getting some open looks and that type of stuff. I mean, we would like to get more fouls called than what happened, but that’s just how it is. But credit them, they battled back and a lot of momentum changes in that game and whatnot, but guys just came to play really stepped up in the absence of Jalen Kirkpatrick. And I just thought that it was a collective effort by our kids tonight. They did a really good job.”
Brayden Wallis led the Spartans with 21 points. Judd Jirovsky scored 16 and Ryker Thoren added 15. AP was led by Benny Waller with 26 points and Caleb Campbell with 16.
Grundy Center will return to action Tuesday at Oelwein. Aplington-Parkersburg will host East Marshall on Friday, January 10.
Brady Driscol interview:
Matt Lindeman interview:
Aaron Thomas interview:
Brent Thoren interview:
