T-R PHOTO BY ANDREW ABADIE Gladbrook-Reinbeck freshman William Kiburis scores a fast-break layup during the second half of the Rebels’ comeback win over BCLUW on Tuesday night in Reinbeck.

REINBECK — Trailing 37-35 midway through the fourth quarter, the Gladbrook-Reinbeck boys’ basketball team called a timeout which set up a pivotal, momentum-shifting 3-pointer by Dylan Riffey. Riffey’s 3-pointer helped Gladbrook-Reinbeck complete a fourth-quarter, 51-44 comeback win over BCLUW on Tuesday night to help the Rebels start 5-0 for the first time since the 2016-2017 season. “Usually in our zone offense, there has been an emphasis in scoring, especially towards the end and I hit those shots,” Riffey said. “They usually go to me in the fourth quarter and I like to hit those shots so I think they felt comfortable giving it to me. “I feel pretty comfortable in those situations. I felt pretty good doing it.” After a slow first quarter which had G-R leading 8-7, BCLUW’s defense helped the Comets (1-5, 0-3) take momentum and pull ahead 25-20 at halftime. The biggest difference was the Comets’ ability to keep the Rebels (5-0, 4-0) out of the paint. “I thought they outplayed us as in of how hard they played especially in the first half,” G-R head coach Scott Kiburis said. “They were getting offensive boards, pushing us around, we weren’t holding them back so they got us in the first half.” Riffey’s 3-point shooting helped keep his team afloat in the first half with a pair of 3-pointers but according to Riffey BCLUW’s defense was difficult to penetrate. “They kept us out of the paint,” Riffey said. “They played really well in the paint. They played super aggressive. They crashed on all the boards and they outplayed us a lot. We were talking about in the locker room about this. [We said] ‘they have been outplaying us we can’t let that happen especially from now on if we’re going to a really good team. They outplayed us that game but we’re going to work harder especially in the upcoming games.” Out of halftime, Rippey and William Kiburis were able to find some momentum which helped the Rebels take a 33-31 lead at the end of the third quarter. William, who was scoreless in the first half, came up with 11 points which was mostly done at the free-throw line in which he was 6-of-8 behind the line by the end of the night. After Rippey’s momentum-shifting 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, G-R went on an 8-0 run to take a 46-37 lead. Rippey finished the night with five 3-pointers and a team-leading 19 points. “He a good shooter, an excellent shooter,” Scott said. “His brother got hurt so we were short and he pretty much played the whole second half. He came through on the shots that we needed him. He hasn’t been shooting really well early in the season and I know he’s a little disappointed with that but when we needed him definitely tonight he came through.” Despite the loss, BCLUW head coach Evan Janssen was proud of his team’s effort. “I could not be prouder,” Janssen said. “My kids played as hard as they possibly could. They gave themselves a chance at the end and that’s all we can ask for. We have got the talent. We have got everything we just have to get it mentally. ‘I’m a big coach that [pushes] to do what you are good at and do what you are good at as hard as you possibly can. Rebounding is effort and my kids give more effort than anybody on the floor so we were going to try and attack the boards as hard as we possibly can. We probably outrebounded. I mean we did everything that we wanted to do. Strategically, we did everything we wanted to do. They executed the way we wanted them to. They just need to hit a couple of more shots and we need them to hit as many shots.” Noah Gallentine had a team-leading 11 points for BCLUW while Trey Teske posted 10 points. Notably, every BCLUW player with the exception one of scored in the loss. “I think the difference was that they hit shots,” Janssen said. “They came out and the shots that they were getting in the game where they wanted it on the wing part of the 3-point zone. They hit them and they were contested. We did what we wanted to do and they hit them. That’s just kind of what the game is about. It happens. We had them the entire way through but [G-R] is a great program.” BCLUW will travel to East Marshall on Friday while G-R will travel to play Wapsie Valley on Friday. Gladbrook-Reinbeck 51, BCLUW 44 At Reinbeck G-R (5-0, 4-0) — Tyler Tscherter 2 2-4 7, William Kiburis 2 6-8 11, Dylan Riffey 5 4-5 19, Eli Thede 0 0-0 0, Cullen Eiffler 2 1-5 5, Cody Johnson 0 0-0 0, Caleb Egesdal 2 0-0 5, Luke Riffey 0 0-0 0, Danny Gleissner 0 2-2 2. TOTALS 13 15-24 51 BCLUW (1-5, 0-3) — Treye Teske 3 3-4 10, Jesse Moore 3 1-4 5, Jack Hughes 0 2-2 2, Noah Lehman 3 0-0 6, Mason Yantis 2 4-7 8, Noah Gallentine 4 0-0 11, Eric Knott 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 15 10-17 44. G-R 8 12 11 20 — 51 BCLUW 7 18 8 11 — 44 3-Point Goals-G-R 8 (Riffey 5, Tscherter, Kiburis, Egesdal), BCLUW 4 (Gallentine 3 Teske). Total Fouls-G-R 14, BCLUW 24. Fouled Out-Gallentine, Yantis.