Rebels sophomore guard William Kiburis led his team with 33 points against Janesville on Jan. 18. Kiburis has been the leading scorer for Gladbrook-Reinbeck the past two seasons and through 10 games is averaging a conference-leading 19.9 points per game. -- Photo by Darvin Graham/Sun Courier

REINBECK — The Gladbrook-Reinbeck Rebels welcomed in a two-loss Janesville Wildcats team to their home court on Jan. 18. The Rebels got behind a career high scoring performance from sophomore guard William Kiburis and sent Janesville home with their third loss, a 73-53 blowout.

Kiburis put in 33 points, going 13-of-24 from the field including a team high three three-pointers. Kiburis’ night was the biggest scoring performance by a G-R Rebel boys player since Caden Kickbush put up 34 points against BCLUW on Jan. 5, 2018.

“(William) attacked the basket real well tonight,” head coach Scott Kiburis said. “He also supplemented that with some good outside shooting along with the rest of our perimeter guys who knocked down shots in the first half.”

The two teams were knotted at 18 after the first quarter. In the second quarter Gladbrook-Reinbeck broke away to take a 39-30 lead at the half.

“Janesville’s an excellent team,” Coach Kiburis said. “We shot the ball well and were able to separate from them in the second quarter by nine and then came out strong in the second half.”

Caleb Egesdal pulls up for one of his two three-point buckets on Monday. The sophomore guard has been a top scoring option for the Rebels this season, particularly from behind the arc. -- Photo by Darvin Graham/Sun Courier

Late in the first half guard Caleb Egesdal took a fall and was sidelined the rest of the game with an leg injury. Kiburis said they shifted some attention down low to forward Tristen Sanford-Anders who he felt established himself under the hoop well on the offensive and defensive end.

Despite the loss of Egesdal, the Rebels pulled away in the second half, putting the game well out of reach before the fourth quarter.

“Defensively we’re getting there,” Kiburis said. “We’re working hard mixing our zone and our man defense, trying to keep them away from the basket. We had some lapses but I thought we rebounded defensively fairly well. We kept them to one shot a lot and from that we were able to get in transition and get some opportunities.”

Leading the Rebels Monday was William Kiburis who scored 33 points to go along with six rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Sanford-Anders led the team with nine rebounds and four blocks to go along with six points. Other scorers for the Rebels were Dylan Riffey with 10 points and Luke Riffey who was one point short of a double-double. Riffey finished with nine points and a team high 13 assists.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck's Tristen Sanford-Anders stretches out for the opening tip against Janesville's Wiley Sherburne on Jan. 18. -- Photo by Darvin Graham/Sun Courier

The Rebels remain in a bit of a three-way scenario for the top of the NICL West. They join South Hardin and Grundy Center who each have one conference loss so far. G-R has only lost twice this season, once to South Hardin by one point and to Crestwood early in the season. The Rebels soundly defeated Grundy Center early last week while South Hardin’s only conference loss came against Grundy Center in their second game of the season.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck will have a rematch with South Hardin next Tuesday and will see Grundy Center again on Feb. 2.

“We’re just trying to figure ourselves out yet,” Kiburis said. “We have pieces we can adjust and we’re trying to add a couple pieces yet. Isaac Clark has come on really well as a freshman in a supporting role as has sophomore Logan Giesking. But it’s a good win if you can play well against Janesville, so we’re happy with that.”

Rebels guard Dylan Riffey goes up for a shot during G-R’s win over Janesville on Jan. 18. Riffey finished with 10 points on the night. -- Photo by Darvin Graham/Sun Courier