After their stirring third-place trophy run last year, the previously unheralded Granger Spartans found themselves under a public eye they have not experienced. So their coach, Andy Affholter, decided to remind them that they would carry that scrutiny — that target — all this season.

View all photos for this story.

That’s why, on the back of each Spartan uniform, just below the neck, is a small, round target.

On Wednesday, the Cascade Kodiaks missed that target, and just about everything else, as the Spartans opened the Class 1A tournament with a 54-32 victory that was never in doubt.

Even with their defensive ace, junior guard Emily Carpenter, so sick on Wednesday morning that she was throwing up and feverish and didn’t even come to the SunDome with her teammates, the Spartans held Cascade to a frigid 8-for-34 shooting from the field. The only Kodiak to have any success at all was Amber West, who made two of her four shots and finished with six points.

“We were kind of hesitant because we were really worried about how (Carpenter) and how she would be able to play,” said junior forward Sam Zapien, whose 14-point, six-rebound performance paced Granger. “But we were still ready to play.”

And play they did. The Spartans hit 45 percent of their shots, with Ashlee Reddout scoring 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting and Italia Mengarelli adding 10, and committed only 11 turnovers.

“I just felt felt like I needed to step it up,” Reddout said. “One of my best friends was sick and I needed to help pick up the slack. I also felt like it was time for me to finally have a good game.”

She did, and so, surprisingly, did Carpenter. Although the ailing junior didn’t start, she came off the bench and contributed 17 minutes, made a couple of steals and even managed to score five points despite being clearly not feeling her best.

“You talk about a kid getting a gut check, that was it,” Spartans coach Andy Affholter said. “The good news is we don’t play tomorrow until 5:30, so she’ll have a little more time to rest.”

And the bad news, in a way, is who the Spartans (20-4) must face in that 5:30 p.m. quarterfinal: defending champion Lynden Christian, one of the three tournament favorites (along with Freeman and Seattle Christman). 

“Lynden Christian: the Yankees of girls basketball,” Affholter said.

His team, though, seems to relish the opportunity.

“Oh, we’re excited to play them,” Zapien said. “In the (news)paper today, it said we were the hunted. Tomorrow we get to hunt them.”

“I’m so excited,” Reddout said. “Now they have the target on their backs.”