Gladbrook-Reinbeck senior William Kiburis (11) goes up for the dunk during the Rebels’ win over Keota in the Class 1A District 11 semifinal basketball game Feb. 21 at Grinnell High School. PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

William Kiburis’s senior season with the Gladbrook-Reinbeck basketball team ended March 6 in a 57-47 loss to Remsen St. Mary’s at the boys’ state basketball tournament. His first appearance at state was the final notch in a senior year of big stats and big success, which culminated in a third-consecutive Most Outstanding Player honor from the NICL West coaches — matching former Rebel Joe Smoldt’s run of three straight titles from 2015 to 2017. His father Scott Kiburis was named the co-head coach of the year.

Kiburis was also named to the all-conference first team unanimously for the third year running, after getting second-team honors as a freshman. In NICL West play, he averaged 24.6 points (tops in the league), 5.9 rebounds and a conference-best 9.1 assists to go along with three steals a game. He was joined by two other G-R players on the first team — fellow seniors Caleb Egesdal and Luke Riffey. Egesdal scored 15 points per game in NICL play with 3.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.8 steals added onto the tally. He shot 44.7 percent from deep while facing NICL opponents. Egesdal had been on the second team two straight years.

Riffey shot 41.9 percent from the great beyond in conference play and scored 13 points per game, added 2.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists and was a key player on defense for the co-champion Rebels. Riffey was a first-teamer in 2022 and honorable mention in 2021.

On the second team was sophomore Drew Eilers, who stepped into a starting role this season following Tristen Sanford-Anders’ graduation. He averaged 6.4 points, a team high nine rebounds and 1.6 assists per game in conference play.

Junior Isaac Clark was an honorable mention for the second year running after averaging 6.8 points, 3.3 boards, 2.4 assists and 1.5 steals per NICL game while providing length and speed on the defensive side of the ball. He’ll step into the starting point guard role in 2023-24.

East Marshall had one player made the first team, as senior Junior Brown was unanimously voted on for his second-straight first team honor. Brown was on fire in conference play, scoring a team-high 21.6 points per game and shot 33 percent from 3-point range. He added three assists per contest.

Two Mustangs were on the second team. Senior Adrian Arifi was given a second-straight nomination after scoring 13 points per game, hitting 38.9 percent of his threes and adding 5,3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Landen Neuroth scored 12.4 points per game, grabbed 3.9 rebounds and added 2.1 assists per game as he grew into a sort of point-forward role in the second half of the season.

Senior Carter Anderson was given an honorable mention, scoring 4.4 points and grabbing 4.4 rebounds per game in conference play.

All-NICL West Division Boys Basketball Teams

(* — unanimous selection)

FIRST TEAM

*William Kiburis, SR, Gladbrook-Reinbeck

*Caleb Egesdal, SR, Gladbrook-Reinbeck

*Luke Riffey, SR, Gladbrook-Reinbeck

*Jalen Kirkpatrick, SO, Grundy Center

*Junior Brown, SR, East Marshall

Tiernan Vokes, SO, Grundy Center

Ryan Walters, SR, South Hardin

SECOND TEAM

Tate Jirovsky, JR, Grundy Center

Drew Eilers, SO, Gladbrook-Reinbeck

Jake Teske, SR, South Hardin

Lane Luiken, JR, South Hardin

Adrian Arifi, SR, East Marshall

Landen Neuroth, JR, East Marshall

Brady Roder, SR, AGWSR

HONORABLE MENTION

Isaac Clark, JR, Gladbrook-Reinbeck

Brayden Wallis, SO, Grundy Center

McKale McGonigal, SR, South Hardin

Carter Anderson, SR, East Marshall

Gabe Nederhoff, JR, AGWSR

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Final Conference Standings

W-L

Gladbrook-Reinbeck 7-1

Grundy Center 7-1

South Hardin 4-4

East Marshall 2-6

AGWSR 0-8