Unity Christian’s defense reigned supreme in crunch time, however, rallying to a 48-46 victory over the Spartans in a Class 2A state quarterfinal at Wells Fargo Arena.

The Spartans’ season ends at 22-3. Unity Christian advances to Thursday’s semifinals against West Lyon, two of three teams from western Iowa in the 2A semis (Western Christian).

“I hate the feeling of losing,” Grundy Center senior Ryker Thoren said. “Terrible feeling. … It’s just crazy to think that it’s over.”

Grundy Center had the ball with just under five seconds remaining, inbounding from near halfcourt, with Brayden Wallis chucking a lofty pass to a leaping Jalen Kirkpatrick at the free-throw line, who dished it to a streaking Tiernan Vokes, leaping up for a potential game-tying layup only to get blocked at the basket by Braeden Bosma.

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - Grundy Center’s Ryker Thoren battles for a loose ball with Unity Christian’s Braeden Bosma (3) during the first half of Tuesday’s Class 2A state quarterfinal boys basketball game at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The razor-thin margin of Bosma’s block in relation to Vokes’ attempt at the basket had the Spartans appealing for a goaltending call that never came as the final second of Grundy Center’s season ticked away.

“Garbage,” Grundy Center head coach Brent Thoren said after the game. “Hot garbage. That’s just the reality of things, they [the officials] didn’t want to go to overtime and call that, so we have to live with it. … It was absolutely goaltending.

“That is an incredibly good basketball team that we played right there, I don’t want to discredit them, because they’re very good. … I feel bad for our team right now, just how we lost that game, didn’t make enough plays at the end, but we’re not going to let a two-hour game define my guys and what we’ve done over the last two years.”

Judd Jirovsky hit a three-pointer to push Grundy Center’s lead to 41-32 with 6:18 remaining in the game, one of two treys for the junior that helped keep the Knights at bay.

Unity Christian turned up the heat with pressure defense that forced five Grundy Center turnovers in the final four minutes — the last turnover led to a Bosma bucket plus a fifth foul for Ryker Thoren, Grundy Center’s leading scorer with 14 points on Tuesday.

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - Grundy Center’s Judd Jirovsky makes one of his three 3-pointers during the Spartans’ Class 2A state quarterfinal loss to Unity Christian on Tuesday night in Des Moines. Jirovsky finished with 11 points.

“It was just really stretched out, pressuring our guards,” said Grundy Center senior Jalen Kirkpatrick who finished with nine points. “We forced a couple passes that weren’t there, got sped up, that’s just the way it goes.”

Kirkpatrick had a solid look from the corner for three that would’ve pushed Grundy Center back ahead, but it was off the mark. The Spartans chose to defend and got a steal with eight seconds left, and after a timeout and inbounds Unity Christian gave its final foul of the quarter to reset the Spartans for the final play.

“We’ve been practicing that play the last couple of weeks, and it turned out almost exactly how we wanted,” Kirkpatrick said. “I had confidence in that play and it almost worked out.”

The final play was almost a reflection of Grundy Center’s fortunes on Tuesday.

The Spartan defense traveled well to Des Moines, disrupting the Knights for 14 turnovers leading to 15 points.

While Grundy Center arguably left points on the table, shooting just 35.5 percent from the floor in the first two quarters, they went into the locker room up 28-25.

“We came out with really good energy,” Kirkpatrick said. “Got a couple stops right away that just helped keep us going and wanting to play defense, taking pride in that.”

The Knights turned the ball over 20 times in total, with four steals from Brody Zinkula and four other Spartans with two steals.

“The quickness of their hands, they got so many hands on balls when we were driving, and they made it really tough for us,” Unity Christian head coach Cody Harskamp said. “We needed to move the ball a little better but they’re just really athletic and long.”

The Knights didn’t squander their offensive opportunities, making 21-of-38 shots from the floor on Tuesday. Jackson Vogel led the Knights with 14 and Bosma added 12, nine of which came in the second half.

Ryker Thoren stepped up to lead a balanced Grundy Center offense that also got 11 points off the bench from Judd Jirovsky and nine points each from Kirkpatrick and Tiernan Vokes.

“They sagged off on a lot of guys that can’t shoot from outside so I was working in practice this week on just taking a dribble and pulling up with a jumper and I did that a few times tonight,” Thoren said.

Kirkpatrick added, “He’s always been our vocal leader in the huddle, and seeing him step up was really cool. We all know he can do it, we know any guy can do it and he was the guy tonight.”

Tuesday was a gut punch for Grundy Center’s seven seniors, five of them starters — Zinkula, Wallis, Thoren, Vokes and Kirkpatrick, as well as Preston Martens and Dayton Myers.

“We’re all buddies, we have a good time on and off the court, play poker on the weekends,” Ryker Thoren said. “It’s been awesome.”

Quite the journey for Brent Thoren, Ryker’s father, and the rest of the Spartans, ending their season at the state tournament for the second season in a row.

“Ryker and I, … we really don’t talk a lot when we get home, that’s kind of a rule for us. No sports, just dad and son,” Brent said, “and to see him compete today and do what we know he’s capable of doing was very gratifying. We have so many good players and tonight was an opportunity for him to shine a little bit and he did.”

“I just want to say that in the end it’s not about one play tonight, but about our kids, and what they did to get us here. They’ve done everything we’ve ever asked of them, been with me since fourth grade. Those kids and families have sacrificed and done so much for us to get to this point, I’m just super proud of them.”

Iowa High School Boys State Basketball Tournament

At Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines

CLASS 2A

Quarterfinals

Tuesday, March 11

Western Christian 69, Jesup 38

Grand View Christian 61, Treynor 46

West Lyon 81, Union Community 50

Unity Christian 48, Grundy Center 46

Semifinals

Thursday, March 13

No. 1 Western Christian (23-3) vs. No. 4 Grand View Christian (24-1), 2 p.m.

No. 2 West Lyon (22-3) vs. No. 3 Unity Christian (21-4), 3:45 p.m.

Championship

Friday, March 14

Semifinal winners, 5 p.m.

Unity Christian 48, Grundy Center 46

GRUNDY CENTER (22-3) — Brody Zinkula 0-1 1-2 1, Brayden Wallis 1-7 0-0 2, Ryker Thoren 6-9 2-2 14, Tiernan Vokes 4-9 1-1 9, Jalen Kirkpatrick 4-14 0-0 9, Brayden Davie 0-2 0-0 0, Judd Jirovsky 3-9 2-2 11, Ryder Slifer 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18-51 6-7 46.

UNITY CHRISTIAN (21-4) — Dylan Bosma 4-5 0-0 9, Braeden Bosma 5-11 1-1 12, Traevin Van Beek 0-0 0-0 0, Tyce Van Donge 3-8 1-1 7, Jackson Vogel 6-7 1-2 14, Keagen Winterfeld 3-6 0-0 6, Brayden Harskamp 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS 21-38 3-4 48.

GRUNDY CTR. 15 13 8 10 — 46

UNITY CHR. 11 14 5 18 — 48

3-Point Goals–Grundy Center 4-20 (Jirovsky 3-7, Kirkpatrick 1-7, Vokes 0-1, Davie 0-2, Wallis 0-3), Unity Christian 3-12 (Vogel 1-1, D. Bosma 1-2, B. Bosma 1-4, Harskamp 0-1, Van Donge 0-2, Winterfeld 0-2). Rebounds–Grundy Center 24 (Kirkpatrick 7), Unity Christian 26 (Vogel 8). Assists–Grundy Center 11 (Thoren, Jirovsky 4), Unity Christian 9 (B. Bosma 3). Team Fouls–Grundy Center 13, Unity Christian 12. Fouled Out–Thoren.