Grundy Center boys basketball got a formidable challenge from Northeast’s starting five on Saturday, but fresh legs off the bench gave the seventh-ranked Spartans a kick, hitting their stride for a 71-62 triumph in a Class 2A Substate 4 final at Levick Arena on the campus of Wartburg College.

Tiernan Vokes led the Spartans with 20 points; Judd Jirovsky added 14 points off the bench and Brayden Wallis and Jalen Kirkpatrick finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Grundy Center (22-2) returns to Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines as the sixth seed in the 2A bracket and will take on third-seeded Unity Christian at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11. Grundy Center was a state quarterfinalist in 2024.

“I love this sport,” Kirkpatrick said. “It helped me grow through childhood, set my standards, set my personality, and to do something like this, which not a lot of people get to do, it’s just awesome.”

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - Grundy Center’s Jalen Kirkpatrick, left, and Tiernan Vokes (11) share a high-five during Saturday’s Class 2A substate final at Wartburg College in Waverly.

Northeast led for most of the opening period, with eight points from Gavin Kramer contributing to a 16-14 Rebel lead after the first quarter.

“They’re a tough matchup defensively,” Wallis said. “They shoot it really well, which opens up a lot more driving lanes for them, but we just stayed positive on defense and didn’t give up.”

The tide turned in the second quarter as the Spartans utilized Brayden Davie and Jirovsky off the bench to give Grundy starters a breather while keeping the pace high to pressure the Rebels.

Vokes had seven points in a 10-0 Spartan run in the second quarter, including a bucket off a Northeast turnover and a big three-point play to inject some extra energy into the Spartans, who led 33-26 at halftime.

“Our goal every game is to get out there and run the floor,” Vokes said. “We want to get up and down, wear the other team out, and I think we used that to our advantage today, especially on a bigger college-sized court.”

The track meet continued in the second half — one highlight was a Jirovsky 3-pointer, followed by a Jirovsky steal and score as he was fouled, roaring his approval to an energetic Spartan bench in a six-point swing and the Spartans eventually stretched out to a 49-37 lead after three quarters.

“There’s a lot of momentum in that play,” Jirovsky said. “I think the community, our bench, our fans, our student section, everybody showed out today, and it was a really lively atmosphere. The players definitely feed off that and making plays like that is great as a player and great for the team.”

Grundy Center’s lead grew to 18 points in the fourth quarter. Northeast mounted a small comeback, getting back within 11 with a 9-2 run, but the Spartans were good enough at the free-throw line down the stretch and limited Northeast second-chance opportunities to close out the win.

Rebounding was a major factor in the Spartans pulling away on Saturday, head coach Brent Thoren said.

“We got some extra tip-outs, and just to get some extra touches and possessions was big for us, while limiting [Northeast] to a one-and-done type thing,” Thoren said. “I think us possessing the ball more, running some actions and making them guard a little bit ran some clock and also got us some mismatches with them switching things up.”

Six of Grundy Center’s seven regulars were on the floor at Wells Fargo Arena last season — Hudson defeated Grundy Center, 55-51, and went on to finish as runners-up in Class 2A.

While there was definitely some excitement in Saturday’s win, Grundy Center senior Brody Zinkula said it’s just the second part of a three-part plan for the Spartans to get more out of this business trip down to Des Moines.

“We’ve got to have a good week of practice,” Zinkula said. “This next week is the first step. We’ve just got to stay together and keep going to the basket and we’ll see how it goes. … It’s a great feeling knowing that we’ve got two weeks of basketball left together.”

The 2A field includes three North Iowa Cedar League teams in total; Jesup upended previously-unbeaten North Fayette Valley in the nightcap of Saturday’s substate final doubleheader in Waverly and Union Community landed the shocker of the day with a 77-66 upset of second-ranked Carroll Kuemper.

The 2A quarterfinal schedule at “The Well” on March 11 begins with top-ranked Western Christian vs. Jesup, followed by Grand View Christian vs. Treynor and West Lyon vs. Union before the Spartans take the floor in the final matchup of the day against Unity Christian; the Knights were semi-finalists last season, also losing to Hudson by a 54-51 margin.

Saturday’s Substate Finals

CLASS 2A

Grand View Christian 74, West Burlington 57

Grundy Center 71, Northeast 62

Jesup 57, North Fayette Valley 56

Treynor 51, Albia 47

Union Community 77, Carroll Kuemper 66

Unity Christian 67, Spirit Lake 43

West Lyon 80, Manson-NW Webster 45

Western Christian 80, OABCIG 55

Grundy Center 71, Northeast 62

NORTHEAST (18-6) — Jaxen Christiansen 6 0-0 13, Colby Gray 5 1-1 12, Chase Christiansen 3 0-0 8, Gavin Kramer 7 7-9 23, Emerson Kreinbrink 2 2-2 6, Michael Frame 0 0-0 0, Calvin Fowler 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 23 10-12 62.

GRUNDY CENTER (22-2) — Brody Zinkula 3 2-4 8, Brayden Wallis 6 0-0 12, Ryker Thoren 0 2-2 2, Tiernan Vokes 5 10-13 20, Jalen Kirkpatrick 4 0-0 10, Brayden Davie 2 0-0 5, Judd Jirovsky 5 2-3 14, Ryder Slifer 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 25 16-22 71.

NORTHEAST 16 10 11 25 — 62

GRUNDY CTR 14 19 16 22 — 71

3-Point Goals–Northeast 6 (C. Christiansen 2, Kramer 2, J. Christiansen, Gray); GC 5 (Kirkpatrick 2, Jirovsky 2, Davie). Team Fouls–Northeast 17, GC 12. Fouled Out–none.