Spartans shellac Comets in postseason opener

When one of Grundy Center’s marquee players has an off night, another one steps in to fill the void.
           
Leading scorer Hailey Wallis finished with just six points during a Class 2A regional quarterfinal win over BCLUW on Tuesday night, but fellow junior Brooke Flater more than made up the difference with 18 points, leading the Spartans to a decisive 69-37 victory and setting up another home date with Aplington-Parkersburg on Friday night.
           
“Both teams know each other, so I don’t think anybody was surprised by what anybody did,” Grundy Center coach Matt Lindeman said. “We had a good inside game and a good outside game.”
           
The conference foes and geographical rivals both got off to sloppy starts with a slew of early mistakes, but eighth-ranked Grundy Center (20-1) hit the offensive boards aggressively. And if you ask either coach, that early stretch went a long way toward determining the outcome.
           
“One of the things that we’ve done all year really well is rebound,” BCLUW Coach David Lee said. “From where I was sitting, it just looked like we didn’t hit the board real hard like we’d been doing.”
           
Spartan junior Kylie Willis gave her team a jolt with two quick baskets that ran the lead to 8-3, and as the first buzzer sounded, guard Reegan Zinkula created a three-point play to make the score 16-5 after one.
 
From there, the Comets (10-13) never recovered. Despite the best efforts of sophomore Madison Ubben and senior Lauren Anderson, BCLUW couldn’t put a dent in the lead, and by the next timeout, they trailed 28-7. At halftime, the Spartans led 37-15, and an onslaught of three-pointers in the second half extended the advantage even further. 
 
Read the full story in the February 22 Grundy Register. Subscribe by calling (319) 824-6958 or clicking here.