PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

In the third meeting of the season between Gladbrook-Reinbeck and BCLUW, just as in the first two meetings, the margin for error from either team was thin. In the first two meetings, Gladbrook-Reinbeck was able to stifle Allison Engle and Chloe Walters enough to come away with victories.

Thursday night the Rebels did well again, holding the duo to 22 combined points (11 each), but contributions from the Comets’ secondary scorers helped push the Comets to a nail-biting 40-37 victory in Class 1A Region 5 first-round action. G-R ends the season with a 9-14 record, while BCLUW moves to 14-8.

A low-scoring first quarter had the Comets ahead 6-5 as the teams were trying to find ways to get easy baskets — not a simple task when the teams had seen each other multiple times in the regular season. But after a run from the Comets to push the lead to 16-9 in the second quarter, G-R’s high-low post game between Katie Clark and Megan Cooley began to pay dividends. Cooley scored a game-high 13. Eight straight points, punctuated by a 3-pointer from Lauren Boyer (she made two on the night) put the Rebels ahead 17-16. One free throw and a Walters buzzer-beater later, the Comets led 19-17 at the half.

After giving up a few too many baskets in the paint in the first half, BCLUW coach Dave Lee said the team did a better job of defending G-R’s post actions in the game’s final minutes.

“They hit a couple of outside shots and I think we got worried of fading towards that way instead of waiting until the pass was there,” Lee said. “In the second half we stayed put until the ball got there and I thought we did a lot better job. Just defensively, I thought we were more disciplined in the second half.”

The Rebels made a run in the middle of the third quarter to take a 27-21 lead, their largest of the night. BCLUW came right back with seven straight points to hold a 28-27 lead after three quarters. The biggest bucket in that run was a three from Klayre Gallentine — one of two from the freshman, and another example of the Comets’ role players chipping in at key moments. Katie Hill scored seven points while spelling Walters, and Sydney Anderson had four points in the all-important fourth quarter.

G-R coach Amber Gerringer said the Comets’ timely scoring was the key difference in Thursday’s matchup.

“I think BCLUW played a really good game and they had a lot of girls knock down shots,” Gerringer said. “But like we told the girls in the locker room, I’m happy with how they battled and they played hard until the end. Some nights it’s not going to go your way.”

Engle scored five of her 11 points in the final four minutes, hitting go-ahead baskets to make the score 35-32 and 37-35. BCLUW’s defense held firm in the closing stages and the Comets earned a trip to face No. 3 Springville on Tuesday in the second round.

BCLUW 40, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 37

BCLUW (14-8) — Sydney Anderson 1 2-2 4, Leah Pieper 0 0-0 0, Allison Engle 5 0-1 11, Katie Hill 3 1-1 7, Chloe Walters 4 3-4 11, Klayre Gallentine 2 0-3 6, Callie Swanson 0 1-3 1, Moyra Severa 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 15 7-14 40.

GLADBROOK-REINBECK (9-14) — Mahayla Olson 2 2-4 6, Katie Clark 1 2-2 4, Lauren Boyer 2 0-0 6, Megan Cooley 6 1-1 13, Karlie Rickert 0 1-2 1, Xandra Anderson 1 0-0 3, Madison Resendez 0 0-0 0, Lily Dripps 1 2-2 4. TOTALS 13 8-11 37.

BCLUW 6 13 9 12 — 40

G-R 5 12 10 10 — 37

3-Point Goals-BCLUW 3 (Gallentine 2, Engle), G-R 3 (Boyer 2, Anderson). Team Fouls-BCLUW 10, G-R 16. Fouled Out-none.