Tyler Pierce goes up on an open shot in the lane Friday night against the Comets. Pierce’s 12 points coaxed the Rebels along to a 78-44 win against BCLUW at home. Photo by STEPHEN KOENIGSFELD

REINBECK – Junior Joe Smoldt had 28 points through three quarters and helped the Gladbrook-Reinbeck boys’ basketball team to a 78-44 rout of the BCLUW Comets on Friday night at home.

The Rebels (7-1, 5-0 NICL West) had three players, including Smoldt, in double figures. Senior Tyler Eiffler put up 17 points and junior Tyler Pierce had eight in the second half to get him to 12 on the night.

Head coach Scott Kiburis said he was impressed with how well not only the offense played but with how well the team passed the ball around. The Rebels tallied 21 assists on the night, six coming from Smoldt and Matt Roeding, Josh Cooley and Caden Kickbush all with three apiece.

Tyler Pierce goes up on an open shot in the lane Friday night against the Comets. Pierce’s 12 points coaxed the Rebels along to a 78-44 win against BCLUW at home.

“We’ve been really working at it,” Kiburis said. “We’ve had to make some adjustments in some of these past games, but I thought today we did a better job getting up and down the floor.”

Nearly all of Smoldt’s assists came in the second half when the Comets (2-7, 1-4 NICL West) started getting down and trying to trap him. Kiburis said Smoldt’s recognition of the traps helped the Rebels maintain a 20-plus-point lead throughout most of the third quarter.

“He comes in and plays harder every practice; plays harder every game,” Kiburis said. “He draws a lot of attention … he recognizes there’s open guys and has his head up. He thrives on it; this is what he works for.”

Overall, the Rebels played a fundamentally sound game through all four quarters. Gladbrook-Reinbeck limited turnovers and forced the Comets to take contested shots, which eventually led to its victory.

The Comets were led by senior Josh Sharp with 14 points on the night. Sharp was able to weave his way in and out of the lane throughout the night, putting up some hard shots after driving into the lane, but getting a majority of them to fall.

Sharp was able to hit a couple 3-pointers in the second half that helped achieve a little momentum for his team, but that was quickly extinguished when the Rebels forced a series of turnovers, leading to points on the other end.

Junior Clay Silver joined Sharp as the only other Comet to reach double figures in points with 10 on the night.

The hope moving forward, Kiburis said, is to keep riding the fine line of being aggressive and forcing turnovers, but not tacking on fouls early in the game. If the Rebels can do that, Kiburis said the team will find a lot of success when it comes to be late in the season.

“We want to be aggressive, we want to take good shots and we want to get a second opportunity [on offensive rebounds],” Kiburis said. “That’s something we’ve always stressed. We don’t want to be in foul trouble because we want certain players on the floor.

“If someone has to sit out in the first half because they got two fouls early, it changes the complexion of the game and what we’ve been practicing on.”

The Rebels get NICL foe East Marshall on Tuesday and another conference battle at Columbus Catholic next Thursday. Then on Jan. 16, the Rebels take a break from conference action and host Anamosa.

For the Comets, the conference schedule forges on. A trip to Grundy Center on Tuesday and a home match against South Hardin, Eldora is what’s slated next for BCLUW.