GRUNDY CENTER — It is not by accident that Grundy Center girls basketball finds itself one win away from a state tournament berth.

“That’s the thing with this group, it’s why we’re 20-2 is our resilience,” Spartan girls head coach Matt Lindeman said. “We never give up, we don’t get down on each other, we stick together, we keep playing and defending with the belief that at some point you’re gonna find a way.”

The road to the regional final ran through the free-throw line for the Spartans in a Class 2A Region 8 semifinal on Friday night, making 17 free throws in the second half of a 38-29 grinder with South Hamilton at Grundy Center High School.

Ninth-ranked Grundy Center takes on eighth-ranked Nodaway Valley at Ballard High School in Huxley on Wednesday with a trip to the state tournament on the line.

Carlie Willis led the Spartans with 17 points and was 11-of-14 from the charity stripe.

Friday’s game happened to pit the two best free-throw shooting teams in 2A against one another — Grundy leads 2A at 67.2 percent entering Friday’s game and South Hamilton is at 65.6 percent and was 13-of-16 in defeat.

A Willis bucket in the paint with two minutes left in the game was the only field goal made by the Spartans in the second half, but the hosts rallied around each other to get to victory.

“I feel like we did all the little things that helped us win tonight,” Willis said. “We were getting the rebounds, being scrappy on defense and getting to the line.”

Grundy Center led 5-3 after the first period in a quarter where both teams struggled to score, then powered up in the second quarter with an 11-0 run keyed by two 3-pointers from Lucy Lebo and five points from Willis to eventually head to halftime up 19-10.

“I thought holding them to 10 points in the first half was really good, and we had opportunities where we could have had more than 19,” Lindeman said. “Our length helped us defensively and going man-to-man, and then the girls just executed the scouting report and knew their strengths.”

The Spartans made 21 of 24 attempts total from the free-throw line on Friday.

“We practice them a lot in practice in pressure situations and that really helps us in a game,” Willis said. “We know that everybody is confident in each other when we’re on the line and there’s no pressure on anyone.”

Friday’s win was also career victory number 200 for Matt Lindeman, who has led Grundy Center to three state tournaments, most recently in 2021.

Nodaway Valley is also looking for their first state berth since 2021, averaging the second most points per game among Class 2A teams — something’s gonna have to give with that offense against Grundy Center’s top-10 defense.

“We are who we are at this point,” Lindeman said. “We found out everything we can on our next opponent, get ourselves prepared and get ready to go.”

No. 9 Grundy Center 38, South Hamilton 29

SOUTH HAMILTON (14-8) — Isabel Swenson 0 0-0 0, Ashlyn Erickson 1 9-10 11, Tanna Thompson 4 4-6 13, Kailyn Northrop 0 0-0 0, Grace Neuberger 1 0-0 3, Kaylen Trask 1 0-0 2, Claire Hewitt 0 0-0 0, Tessa Skartvedt 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 7 13-16 29.

GRUNDY CENTER (20-2) — Lucy Lebo 2 0-0 6, Kali Aldrich 1 2-2 4, Ellery Luhring 0 4-4 4, Laney Dole 1 2-2 5, Maddy Hendershot 0 0-0 0, Karlee Lynch 0 2-2 2, Paige Venenga 0 0-0 0, Carlie Willis 3 11-14 17. TOTALS 7 21-24 38.

S. HAMILTON 3 7 9 10 — 29

GRUNDY CTR. 5 14 9 10 — 38

3-Point Goals-Grundy Center 3 (Lebo 2, Dole); South Hamilton 2 (Thompson, Neuberger). Team Fouls-Grundy Center 9, South Hamilton 18. Fouled Out-None.