Gladbrook-Reinbeck freshman forward Drew Eilers, right, goes in for a layup past Sumner-Fredericksburg defender Brennan Duffy during the first half of Monday’s basketball game in Reinbeck. The Class 1A No. 6 Rebels won 73-49 to improve to 11-0. Photo by. Noah Rohlfing

Going into Monday night’s home game against Sumner-Fredericksburg, Gladbrook-Reinbeck boys’ basketball head coach Scott Kiburis knew the Cougars would try to limit possessions.

So the Rebels dialed up a full-court man press, sped up the game and forced the Cougars into a number of turnovers. The intensity went up, and so did G-R’s lead — the No. 6-ranked Rebels led 25-7 after the first quarter and 38-16 at the halftime whistle, essentially icing the game in 16 minutes.

Scott said he had a plan for the Cougars (5-5) from the start to try and avoid a slow-paced game.

“Our goal was to keep possessions up by putting a little more pressure on them,” coach Kiburis said. “We adjusted our press to get them going a little faster than we have in the past so we could get more shots up and take advantage of that so the game wouldn’t be close.”

On offense, the Rebels (11-0) leaned on William Kiburis early and often. William scored 19 first-half points (including three triples) and finished with a team-high 27 points. Isaac Clark scored 13 points thanks to good off-ball movement and cutting to create open layups for himself. Scott said he was glad to see the sophomore building his confidence and excelling at the small details.

“Isaac’s coming on very well in the last few games,” Scott said. “He sees the floor, he makes good cuts, he passes the ball real well.

“That was the best game he’s played.”

Caleb Egesdal scored 11 points and Tristen Sanford-Anders added nine.

But it was the defense that laid the foundation for the scoring outburst.

G-R’s starting guards — William, Clark, Luke Riffey and Egesdal — all recorded steals in the first half and forced an unknown number of deflections as S-F struggled to cope with the pace the Rebels were forcing them to play at. The press also helped slow down Peyton Schmitz. Schmitz, the Cougars’ leading scorer, had nine points in the first half but struggled to get open looks.

It was about as good of a half as the Rebels could ask for, Scott said. But the second half was a different story.

“They made great adjustments and they outplayed us in the second half,” Scott said. “I thought we did a really good job in the first half. Obviously, the second half we didn’t execute on the defensive end like we did in the first half.”

Up 32 and not in any real danger, G-R did not play up to its first-half level and was outscored 33-25 by the Cougars. It prevented Scott from pulling his starters until the final two minutes of action, as Schmitz scored 19 points in the final 16 minutes to up his total to a game-best 28.

Now the unbeaten Rebels face a 24-hour turnaround to host Columbus Catholic at 7:45 Tuesday night after playing Friday and Monday.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck 73, Sumner-Fredericksburg 49

SUMNER-FREDERICKSBURG (5-5) — Peyton Schmitz 12 0-1 28, Trey Nederhoff 1 0-0 3, Brennan Duffy 1 2-2 4, Kade Mitchell 2 2-2 7, Austin Langreck 0 2-2 2, Jaymison Howard 1 0-0 2, Achilles Quigley 1 1-2 3, Jaxon Willems 0 0-0 0, Krist Kuhlmann 0 0-0 0, Colton Zupke 0 0-0 0, Caden Trainor 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18 7-9 49.

GLADBROOK-REINBECK (11-0) — Isaac Clark 6 0-1 13, Luke Riffey 2 0-0 5, Caleb Egesdal 5 0-0 11, William Kiburis 9 6-6 27, Tristen Sanford-Anders 2 4-6 9, Isaac Baer 0 0-0 0, Logan Giesking 1 0-0 2, Drake Blakesley 0 0-0 0, Luke Sienknecht 0 0-0 0, Drew Eilers 3 0-0 6, Nick Tscherter 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 28 10-13 73.

S-F 9 7 16 17 — 49

G-R 25 23 17 8 — 73

3-Point Goals-S-F 6 (Schmitz 4, Nederhoff, Mitchell), G-R 7 (Kiburis 3, Clark, Riffey, Egesdal, Sanford-Anders). Team Fouls-S-F 9, G-R 10. Fouled Out-none.