Boys basketball roundup: Spartans get away from Comets

GRUNDY CENTER – The Grundy Center boys basketball team moved the ball well to keep rolling with a 62-38 win against BCLUW at Grundy Center High School last Friday.

Wes Willis scored 12 points to lead the Spartans, with Brayden Sawyer contributing 11 points. Dexter Whitehill had seven points, six rebounds and six assists.

The Spartans led 27-20 at halftime and put on the afterburners in the fourth-quarter, outscoring the Comets 22-10 in the final eight minutes.

The win pushed Grundy Center over .500 in the NICL West, still two games behind South Hardin and three behind West leader Gladbrook-Reinbeck.

D-NH 50, HUDSON 38: Dane Fuller scored 12 points as the Wolverines got ahead of Hudson in the middle two quarters of last Friday's win.

D-NH led 31-20 at halftime and went up 41-23 at the end of three quarters. The win ended a three-game losing streak for the Wolverines.

Zak Wauters added 11 points and Derek Kinney contributed seven points and a team-leading seven rebounds.

The Wolverines outrebounded the Pirates, 28-17, and finished out the game with 16-of-18 shooting from the free-throw line.

GLADBROOK-REINBECK 58, EAST MARSHALL 44: The Rebels remained on top of the NICL West with this win against the Mustangs on Friday.

William Kiburis scored 15 points to lead the Rebels and added a team-best nine assists. Eli Thede scored 10 points with four assists and four steals.

The Rebels had a strong second half to get away from East Marshall after the Mustangs rallied to get within two, 27-25, at halftime. G-R shot 24-of-47 (51.1 percent) from the floor and made six of 16 three-point attempts, with Eli Thede and Caleb Egesdal sinking two treys each.

WEST MARSHALL 49, AGWSR 45: The AGWSR boys basketball team was slow at the start and it was costly against the Trojans.

AGWSR fell behind 10-4 after one quarter and were in a 22-13 halftime hole. The Cougars clawed back in the second half only to fell short. The hosts had the contest tied late in the third quarter 28-all and within a single possession several times in the fourth.

The win completed the home-and-away sweep for the Trojans after clipping the Cougars, 56-55 earlier in State Center.

The tandem of Luke Starr and Jaden Penning once again led the AGWSR attack with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Ben Macy added eight points, going 6-of-6 on free throws, and Daniel Stahl led in rebounds with five.

Three Trojans (4-9, 3-5) hit double figures led by Caleb Keigan 15 points with the team’s three triples followed by Gave Jones 14 and Manny Lazard 10.

The loss was the first in five home games for the Cougars, who stand 3-5 in the league and 4-10 overall. Five of the losses have been by eight or less points.

– Scott Bierle, Mid-America Publishing