Gladbrook-Reinbeck senior center Zach Pierce (44) finds room behind Aplington-Parkersburg’s Nick Ellis for a shooting lane during the second half of the battle between top-ranked teams Tuesday night in Reinbeck. The Class 1A No. 1 Rebels rallied past the 2A No. 1 falcons for a 62-54 victory.

REINBECK – Cam Kickbush has hit numerous clutch baskets throughout his four years as a Rebel.

The one that got him to 1,000 career points won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

Connecting on a go-ahead jumper near the free throw line with 1:52 to play, Kickbush helped the Class 1A No. 1 Gladbrook-Reinbeck boys basketball team rally past Class 2A No. 1 Aplington-Parkersburg 62-54 Tuesday in a cross-divisional battle between North Iowa Cedar League unbeatens.

Kickbush scored a game-high 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds and three steals as the Rebels (21-0) held the Falcons scoreless over the final six minutes to overcome a seven-point deficit.

“Honestly, it was just the intensity,” G-R senior Zach Pierce said of his team’s 15-0 run to close the game. “We knew what we had to do, we knew who their guys were and we just had to pick it up if we wanted to win that game.”

Gladbrook-Reinbeck senior guard Camden Kickbush (10) shoots a jumper from the baseline during Tuesday’s clash of top-ranked teams in Reinbeck. Kickbush scored 17 points in the game to go over 1,000 for his career, and the Class 1A No. 1 Rebels defeated the 2A No. 1 Falcons 62-54.

Pierce added 13 points and three blocks, while Cameron Clark scored 12 and Joe Smoldt added 11. Defensive stopper Colton Dinsdale chipped in a season-high nine points, while Smoldt ripped down eight rebounds.

G-R’s gymnasium was jam-packed with standing room only for this match-up between the NICL West and East champions who each ran through their first 20 games without a loss.

Ross Cooper gave A-P (20-1) its largest lead at 54-47 when he hung in the air with a double-clutch shot while drawing a foul against Dinsdale with 6:03 to play. The basket punctuated an 8-2 surge that also included an alley-lop dunk by Cooper as the Falcon faithful reached full volume and forced G-R to use a timeout before turning the tide.

“We had to regroup and start thinking about what we wanted to do with the ball and what we wanted to do on defense and just come together as a team,” Kickbush said.

Smoldt hit two free throws, Clark added a layup inside off a great feed from Dinsdale and Pierce used his size advantage over A-P’s CJ May to score inside and pull the Rebels within one with 3:49 to go.

Cooper traveled on the Falcons’ next possession and missed another jumper before Kickbush, who had been stuck at 998 career points after scoring 12 in the first half, reached the milestone with the key basket to put his team ahead.

Clark added another bucket inside and Kickbush stole the ball at the other end before Dinsdale got a wide-open layup off an inbounds play with 56 ticks on the clock. Trailing 59-54, A-P worked the ball around outside but couldn’t find an opening before Corbin Brungaard was whistled for a travel forcing the Falcons into foul mode.

G-R made just 3-of-6 over the final 21 seconds but A-P couldn’t find its range on its last two possessions before one more desperation heave as it was handed its first loss of the season.

“To their credit they played harder than we did and that was the biggest difference,” Falcons coach Aaron Thomas said of the final six minutes. “We didn’t keep taking the ball strong to the rim and we didn’t guard anybody. They made plays and offensively late we’ve got to be super strong and attack the rim when you have a lead and we didn’t do that. Credit to G-R, they did a great job and Kickbush kind of controlled the game and made some big plays.”

A-P’s Nick Ellis matched Kickbush with 17 points as the Rebels struggled to slow down the Falcons’ big man inside. Though Ellis was held to just two over the final frame as G-R’s defense stiffened down the stretch.

“Most people look at us as an offensive team, we have a lot of good offensive players,” G-R coach Scott Kiburis said. “Many of them have played three or four years of high school varsity basketball, but defensively we didn’t give up a bucket for a while and our three guards played tremendous defense because A-P has some excellent perimeter shooters. The defensive end is what got us back into the game, them not scoring and us having the opportunities.”

Nick Waller hit four 3s and had 14 points, while Cooper, A-P’s leading scorer, had 11 of his 13 in the second half. G-R jumped out to a 9-2 advantage to start the game before the Falcons pulled ahead 12-11 on a Corbin Brungaard 3.

Kickbush ended a back-and-forth second frame with a transition layup and another steal-and-layup to beat the buzzer sending G-R into the break with a 33-31 edge. The senior, who came back midway through the season from a collarbone injury suffered in the Class 1A state football semifinals, was held in check in the third frame before delivering his timely bucket to put

G-R on top for good.

“(Kickbush) had a huge first half, he knocked down some huge shots and got to the rim quite often,” Kiburis said. “In the second half they keyed on him a little bit and we had some other guys step up. But Camden, he loves this type of atmosphere and he missed the state championship football game because he was hurt. I think this was an opportunity for him on the biggest stage to get that opportunity to play hard in front of his friends and family.”