More than anything, Andy Affholter wanted his Granger girls to experience joy after a win. Not relief, which had dominated most of this season, but simply joy.

View all photos for this story.

Thursday night did the trick. In fact, it was a full-body, depth-of-the-soul kind of joy.

With a masterful effort in every aspect of the game, the Spartans led from start to finish in a 47-32 humbling of defending champion Lynden Christian in the Class 1A state quarterfinals in the SunDome.

“It’s hard to find the words to describe it,” said a teary-eyed Ashlee Reddout, who coolly hit three straight baskets in the opening period to spark the upset. “I’m just so proud of us. Everybody was like, ‘Oh no, it’s Lynden Christian, it’s Lynden Christian.’ Well we’re Granger and we can play.”

Reminiscent of last year’s opening-day win overly highly touted Freeman -- which led to a third-place trophy -- Granger overcame a taller team with its quickness and execution. And even though it was a stellar coaching job against a program that has produced nine state titles, Affholter kept coming back to one theme that had little to do with him.

“Relentless. Those girls are just relentless,” he said with a break in his voice. “It was a David and Goliath thing, and these kids were excited about that challenge. They really wanted this game.”

And once ahead with Reddout’s early spark, the Spartans never backed off and never gave the third-ranked Lyncs much hope. Janae Klarich took over in the second quarter, scoring nine of her 12 points, and the defense dominated the second half with LC managing only 12 points.

Affholter had Klarich and Italia Mengarelli run Granger’s clock-managing ‘Four low’ offensive set for much of the second quarter and they did so to perfection. The Spartans’ play-making, ball-handlers would stay out high with their four teammates hugging the length of baseline, working the shot clock down to 10 seconds before attacking the basket.

Klarich was nearly unstoppable in that system and after repeated drives the junior backed off in the final seconds of the half and drained a 3-pointer for a 28-20 lead at the break.

“That’s probably my favorite shot ever,” said a beaming Klarich. “I’d been driving and I could see in the eyes (of the defender) she was expecting it again. I just stopped and shot - what a moment.”

“That’s was huge because we were just hoping to stay close and have a chance to wear them down in the second half,” Affholter noted. “We not only weathered the storm but we were up eight.”

To avert a second-half lapse, the Spartans ratcheted up their defensive effort and held the Lyncs to two baskets in the third quarter. The Lyncs shot 29 percent from the field and made only 1 of 12 shots from 3-point distance.

At the center of Granger’s defense was a box-and-1 on standout forward Kenzie De Boer, LC’s all-time leading scorer who averages 19 points. With Emily Carpenter and Jackiy Roedel sharing the job, the Montana-bound forward was held to 11 points, 10 of which came in the first half. She fouled out with two minutes left.

“She had 23 (on Wednesday) so we wanted to keep her under control if we could,” Affholter said. “We were hoping to wear her down a little.”

Granger’s advantage in quickness led to a 36-31 edge in rebounding and forced LC to foul. The Spartans got to the foul line 27 times, converting 15.

“We stayed together as a team and did our thing on defense,” Reddout said. “We just told ourselves, they’re beatable. Let’s go do it.”

Even Granger’s bench contributed clutch plays. Freshman Fantasia Reyes popped in a 3-pointer near the end of the third quarter for a 37-24 lead.

“That was another huge play and we get it from a little freshman,” Affholter smiled. “We called that play and she hit it.”

The Spartans (21-4) move into the semifinals for the second straight year and will face SCAC foe Connell (23-2) at 6 p.m. Friday. The Eagles, who beat Granger 45-31 in their lone meeting in December, beat Onalaska 46-36 in Thursday’s first quarterfinal.

“All year long it seems like it was relief for these kids when they won. After last year the expectations were so high,” Affholter said. “But after this one I can see the joy in their eyes. And that’s wonderful because they deserve it. They deserve to feel nothing but joy.”