Back to the Well: Spartans dominate S-F to secure second straight state berth

Throughout the 2018-2019 season, a pair of painful losses have been etched in the minds of the seniors who anchor the Grundy Center basketball team—one against Cascade last March in the Class 2A State Championship game, and another at the hands of an upstart Wilton squad in a regional final volleyball match last fall. Headed into Monday night’s clash with Sumner-Fredericksburg, the top-ranked Spartans were determined to avoid a premature exit in consecutive sports.
           
“We were pissed,” the five starters said in unison in reference to the volleyball loss, a matter they’d discussed at length on the bus ride to Cedar Falls. “It was definitely a motivator.”
           
On the strength of a 20-2 run in the first nine minutes and a world-beating 26-point performance from all-state guard Hailey Wallis, Grundy Center coasted to a 72-37 victory and secured back-to-back state berths for the first time since the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 campaigns.
           
After struggling to find her groove in the regional semifinals against Jesup, Wallis, a Minnesota State University commit, came out like a house on fire, scoring eight of her team’s first 10 points and hitting five three-pointers to lead an offense that never took its foot off of the gas.
           
“We’re just trusting our shots. All of us, honestly, were knocking down a lot of shots, so we’re just trusting our training,” Wallis said. “We’ve played with each other a really long time.” 
 
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