Gladbrook-Reinbeck senior guard Brandon Mathern (3) moves past BCLUW’s Wyatt Gould (21) on his way to a layup during last Monday’s Class 1A District 10 quarterfinal basketball game in Reinbeck. Mathern had 17 points in the sixth-ranked Rebels’ 73-40 win. PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER

REINBECK — One of the best 3-point shooting teams in Class 1A showed off this past Monday night.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck boys basketball set a season high with 13 3-pointers in a 73-40 rout of BCLUW in a Class 1A District 10 quarterfinal played at Gladbrook-Reinbeck High School on Monday, Feb. 10.

The Rebels, ranked sixth at press time by the IHSAA, improved to 19-3 and were set to host Waterloo Christian for a district semifinal matchup at 7 p.m. this week Thursday, Feb. 20. BCLUW’s season ends at 3-20.

Brandon Mathern and Austen Mathern each made five 3-pointers to lead the Rebels with 17 points each. Drew Eilers added 15 points and Michael Boyd and Trevor Mathern scored seven and six points, respectively.

“Shooting felt really good warming up,” said Brandon Mathern, who scored 11 of his total in the first quarter. “I think we’ve just been shooting well in general, and defensively, we really got in on the boards.”

PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER

G-R averaged 37.2 percent from the 3-point line heading into last Monday’s contest — only Mount Ayr (40.4 percent) and Madrid (39.9) have better averages among 1A teams taking at least 300 3-point attempts so far this season.

“We started off with five guys in the middle of the paint,” BCLUW head coach Evan Janssen said. “It’s like ‘Look, you’re faster, you’re taller, we’re going to make this a luck game, and you’re either going to make your threes or die trying,’ and we did our job, but they just kept making threes and we had to adjust everything after the first quarter.”

The Comets were down 24-11 after the first eight minutes and the Rebels roared to a 44-17 halftime edge.

“They were trying to get the ball down low and I feel like we were good on the help side,” Brandon Mathern said. “We made them shoot the ball and I thought we did really good on the boards.”

Daniel Zoske led the Comets with 16 points, including four 3-pointers. Owen Myers added six points and Jacob Castell, Kevin Hill and Eathan Petermeier all scored four points each.

PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER

With Monday’s postseason win over BCLUW, G-R collected five wins in a row since a loss to 2A No. 9 Aplington-Parkersburg on Jan. 31 — all three Rebel regular season losses were to ranked 2A teams.

As the Rebels attempt to get back to the state tournament for the third year in a row, the focus will be more likely to turn inside than outside on the floor.

“Our bigs, Michael Boyd and Drew Eilers, are a big key to our success,” Brandon Mathern said. “When we look to them, they’ll either go up or bring in a double team so they can kick it out to us and knock it down so they can get back on defense and keep working.”

Waterloo Christian defeated North Tama, 89-67, to set up Thursday’s matchup with the Rebels. The Sun Courier will feature coverage from that game in next week’s edition.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck 73, BCLUW 40

BCLUW (3-20) — Wyatt Gould 1 0-0 3, Eathan Petermeier 2 0-1 4, Aiden Frank 1 0-0 3, Owen Myers 3 0-0 6, Daniel Zoske 6 0-0 16, Jacob Castell 2 0-0 4, Beau Towne 0 0-0 0, Kevin Hill 2 0-0 4, Lucas Thomas 0 0-0 0, Carson Wayman 0 0-0 0, Ryan Busch 0 0-0 0, Avery Schipper 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17 0-1 40.

GLADBROOK-REINBECK (19-3) — Brandon Mathern 6 0-0 17, Austen Mathern 5 2-2 17, Hudson Clark 2 0-0 4, Drew Eilers 5 5-5 15, Michael Boyd 2 3-3 7, Kooper Larsen 0 0-0 0, Brayden Utter 0 0-0 0, Bennett Sieh 0 0-0 0, Trevor Mathern 2 0-0 6, Dreyson Morgan 0 0-0 0, Thomas Keller 0 0-0 0, Cameron Sieh 1 0-0 3, Hunter Roberts 2 0-0 4. TOTALS .

BCLUW 11 6 10 13 — 40

G-R 24 20 20 9 — 73

3-Point Goals-BCLUW 6 (Zoske 4, Gould, Schipper), G-R 13 (B. Mathern 5, A. Mathern 5, T. Mathern 2, Clark). Team Fouls-BCLUW 11, G-R 8. Fouled Out-none.