The Spartans made a season-best 10 three-point baskets and poured it on East Marshall, 66-18, in an NICL West matchup at Grundy Center High School.

Kali Aldrich made five treys for a team-high 15 points; Raelyn Steinmeyer added four 3-pointers and had 14 total points, Karlee Lynch contributed 13 points.

Grundy Center (11-6, 6-1 NICL West) has now scored 66 points in two consecutive games after a 66-21 drubbing of Waterloo Columbus last Friday.

That 66-point output last week was without Aldrich, who was ill but returned to the lineup on Tuesday — freshman Trinity Jirovsky was out sick on Tuesday.

“We just showed a lot of confidence and team work and built each other up tonight,” Aldrich said. “I was trying to make the best of coming back to help the team. … Once you get a feel for your shot, you definitely just keep shooting.”

Aldrich bookended the first quarter with 3-point buckets as the Spartans stormed out to a 19-4 lead after eight minutes, then went inside the 3-point line for the first 10 points of the second quarter, quickly putting the game out of East Marshall’s reach.

“We wanted to dictate what we want to do on the defensive end but also get good ball movement on the offensive end, find the open person,” Grundy Center head coach Matt Lindeman said. “Our girls do a good job whether it’s in basketball or soccer, delivering it to the open person when they’re ready to shoot. Sometimes we’re not always ready to fire, but tonight we were.”

Alivia Neuroth and Ashtyn Wheater each scored six points to lead East Marshall on Tuesday. The Mustangs stumbled to 2-16 overall and 0-7 in the NICL West and return home for games with BGM and Jesup on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

The Spartans remain tied atop the NICL West with Gladbrook-Reinbeck, both teams at 6-1 in division play. The final division games are next Tuesday as the leaders hit the road — Grundy Center is at AGWSR, while G-R heads to East Marshall.

“This would mean a lot,” Aldrich said. “I think it would show our hard work, and really build our confidence going into the postseason.”

The Spartans will head to Union for an NICL crossover this Friday in the meantime.

“The mental piece is the big part of it now,” Lindeman said. “Making sure we’re making good decisions, that we’re all on the same page and communicating well with each other.”

Grundy Center 66, East Marshall 18

EAST MARSHALL (2-16, 0-7) — Deshawna Green 0 0-0 0, Sydney Hull 0 0-0 0, Delaney Ryan 0 0-0 0, Mya Gould 1 0-0 3, Ashtyn Wheater 3 0-0 6, Addy Denham 0 0-0 0, Alivia Neuroth 3 0-0 6, Hayden Braye 1 1-1 3, Kiela Wolf 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 8 1-2 18.

GRUNDY CENTER (11-6, 6-1) — Maddy Hendershot 1 0-1 2, Kali Aldrich 5 0-2 15, Karlee Lynch 5 3-3 13, Caturella Brown 3 0-0 7, Ava Mundt 4 1-4 9, Raelyn Steinmeyer 5 0-0 14, Contessa Dirks 1 2-2 4, Taityn Thran 0 0-0 0, Teresa Noble 1 0-0 2, Skylar Reding 0 0-0 0, Kennedy Scott 0 0-0 0, Erin Richtsmeier 0 0-2 0. TOTALS 25 6-14 66.

E. MARSHALL 4 7 4 3 — 18

GRUND CTR. 19 22 18 7 — 66

3-Point Goals–EM 1 (Gould), GC 10 (Aldrich 5, Steinmeyer 4, Brown). Team Fouls–EM 8, GC 9. Fouled Out–none.