The Grundy Center girls and boys basketball teams will play part two of back to back NICL Crossover doubleheaders as they host Sumner-Fredricksburg on Friday on 99 The Wave. The Spartan girls have won all seven meetings in the Bound Era, the Spartans boys have won three straight.
Grundy Center girls (6-4, 3-0 NICL-West) fell 53-47 in overtime in a NICL crossover matchup against Jesup of the east division on Thursday. The Spartans slow down opponents with 12.7 steals per game. Ava Mundt is the Spartans leading scorer and rebounder with 14 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.
Head Coach Matt Lindeman on the necessity of building confidence at offensive end.
“We’ve got to take care of the ball. We’ve got to be really diligent about that, getting everybody on the same page, and then taking what they give you a little bit on the offensive end. We’ve got to get some confidence on the offensive side,” says Lindeman. “Defensively, we’re pretty consistent night in and night out, and that’s going to be there. We just got to get some things rolling for us on the offensive side.”
Sumner-Fredricksburg girls (3-6, 1-2 NICL-East) lost 52-37 to Dunkerton in non-conference on Tuesday. The Cougars also bring pressure with 11.8 steals per game. Brielle Voelker leads with 8.3 points per game.
#8(2A) Grundy Center boys (8-0, 3-0 NICL-West) won 73-48 at Jesup in a crossover matchup on Thursday. The Spartans are efficient offensively with 20.4 assists per game. Jalen Kirkpatrick is the top scorer and rebounder for the Spartans with 20 points and 11 rebounds per game.
Head Coach Brent Thoren on containing opponents and upperclassman leadership.
“Defensively, we can really lean on people a little bit. It just changes how we look a little bit with our transition game and offensive personnel as well,” says Thoren. “The nice thing for us is we have a lot of upperclassman. Our senior laden team, had a lot of success in a lot of different sports, and we lean on them to make sure that we’re ready to go. I don’t think that’s any different. We’ll be ready for those challenges.”
The Spartans hold opponents to an average of 46.7 points per game.
Sumner-Fredricksburg boys (6-3, 2-1 NICL-East) has won two straight including a 60-50 non-conference win over Dunkerton on Tuesday. Tatum Nuss leads with 18.6 points and 4.6 assists per game.
Coverage on 99 The Wave begins at 6:05 p.m. followed by the opening tip at 6:15 p.m. in Grundy Center.
