The Gladbrook-Reinbeck boys’ basketball team rallies around its third-straight Class 1A state qualifier banner after beating North Mahaska 61-46 in the substate finals last Saturday night (March 1) at the Roundhouse in Marshalltown. PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

MARSHALLTOWN – The Gladbrook-Reinbeck boys’ basketball team watched the video of North Mahaska rallying back from a double-digit deficit to defeat Montezuma in the Class 1A District 9 finals.

When the Rebels met the Warhawks in last Saturday’s (March 1) Substate 5 showdown with a shot at state on the line, Gladbrook-Reinbeck didn’t want to become somebody else’s cautionary tale.

The sixth-ranked Rebels held North Mahaska’s 3-point attack in check more than long enough to notch their third-straight trip to state, beating the Warhawks 61-46 on Saturday night at the Roundhouse in Marshalltown.

“Just being a part of it, being a part of this group, the seniors, everybody that’s been a part of this forever … it means a whole lot,” said G-R’s first-year head coach Brett Bengen. “It’s special, really special and I’m so proud of everybody that’s a part of this program that’s gotten this program to where it is right now and I’m glad to be a part of it.”

Bengen, an assistant for 13 seasons under former head coach Scott Kiburis, gained the reins and helped return the Rebels to the substate finals for the 11th time in the last 14 years. By holding North Mahaska (21-4) to only seven 3-pointers, Gladbrook-Reinbeck earned itself a place at Wells Fargo Arena for the third year in a row.

G-R’s Austen Mathern makes one of his four 3-pointers during the Saturday, March 1 Class 1A substate final at the Roundhouse. PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

The Rebels didn’t even need to score in the fourth quarter to pull off the three-peat, winning a substate final on George Funk Court for the second time in three years.

Drew Eilers scored a team-leading 19 points, Michael Boyd had 16 and Austen Mathern finished with 14 as Gladbrook-Reinbeck (22-3) built up a big lead and withstood the Warhawks’ late barrage to win. Boyd had 10 rebounds, four blocks and three steals, and Eilers had 10 boards.

North Mahaska, which has attempted more 3-pointers (740) than any other team in the state this winter, wasn’t efficient enough in its pursuit of its first trip to state since 2022. The Warhawks finished 7-for-29 (24.1 percent) from behind the line, with five treys coming in the fourth quarter.

By that point, G-R led 50-26 and used the clock to its advantage from there.

“We knew they’re a very good offensive team and we knew they were going to shoot the ball a lot,” Bengen said. “Like I told them all week long in practice, before the game, at halftime — this is a game of runs and they’re gonna get on one. We just have to be able to stop it.”

G-R’s Drew Eilers (33) shoots over North Mahaska's Adrian Smith (34) in the fourth quarter of last Saturday's substate final basketball game in Marshalltown. PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

North Mahaska’s final surge wasn’t enough to make the Rebels flinch. Gladbrook-Reinbeck led by as many as 28 points early in the fourth and finished off the lead it had built up.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Austen and Brandon Mathern made for the third and final lead change of the game, giving G-R a 14-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, and another by Boyd to beat the halftime buzzer made it 31-15 Rebels.

G-R outscored North Mahaska 17-5 in the second quarter and was never threatened.

“We knew they shoot a lot of threes,” said Eilers. “Some of the shots they put up are crazy and they’re going in so we knew we just had to lock them down and don’t let them shoot all the threes and I think we did a good job of that tonight.”

Asher DeBoef scored a game-high 21 points for North Mahaska, adding 11 rebounds and three steals to the final tally. Gabe Hora, 1A’s third-leading 3-point shooter, was 3-of-10 from distance and finished with 11 points.

PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

“We knew he can shoot from half-court and make it, so we had to stop him, which I think we did a pretty good job of,” said G-R senior point guard Brandon Mathern. “We felt really good at halftime, but Mahaska came back in the fourth quarter against Montezuma so we knew it wasn’t over, but we had a good chance.”

Hudson Clark and the Matherns — Austen, Brandon and Trevor — drew the difficult task of preventing North Mahaska from making its run from the 3-point line and beyond. The Warhawks’ inefficiency on this night was evidence of G-R’s success.

“It’s hard work, but it’s fun,” said Clark, who averages 4.6 points per game. “I like to say I don’t score the most points per game, but it’s how many points I can restrict the other guy from scoring. That’s how I count my points per game.”

Gladbrook-Reinbeck, which has exceeded 20 wins for the fourth year in a row, will face eighth-ranked North Linn (23-2) in the first round of the Class 1A state tournament. The Rebels and Lynx will lock up at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 12, in the first game of the day in Des Moines. North Linn is making its ninth-straight state tournament appearance — a run that has included seven trips to the finals and three state titles.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” Eilers said of G-R’s three-peat. “My sophomore year that was a really good group of kids, so I didn’t know if we’d be able to get back to it, but we put in the work and it showed so it’s pretty cool to get back there again.”

PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Gladbrook-Reinbeck 61, North Mahaska 46

NORTH MAHASKA (21-4) — Asher DeBoef 9 1-2 21, Lucas Nunnikhoven 1 0-0 3, Gabe Hora 4 0-0 11, Jack Kelderman 0 0-0 0, Adrian Smith 1 0-0 2, Axl Patterson 0 0-0 0, Jaxon VanDerVeer 2 0-0 5, Luke Boender 0 0-0 0, Caleb Rozendaal 0 0-0 0, Dane Van Mersbergen 0 0-0 0, Trenton DeBruin 2 0-0 4. TOTALS 19 1-2 46.

GLADBROOK-REINBECK (22-3) — Brandon Mathern 1 0-0 3, Austen Mathern 5 0-0 14, Hudson Clark 3 0-0 6, Drew Eilers 8 3-6 19, Michael Boyd 5 5-7 16, Kooper Larsen 0 0-0 0, Trevor Mathern 1 0-0 3, Thomas Keller 0 0-0 0, Cameron Sieh 0 0-0 0, Hunter Roberts 0 0-0 0. TOTALS .

N. MAHASKA 10 5 11 20 — 46

G-R 14 17 19 11 — 61

3-Point Goals-North Mahaska 7 (Hora 3, DeBoef 2, VanDerVeer, Nunnikhoven), G-R 7 (A. Mathern 4, B. Mathern, Boyd, T. Mathern). Team Fouls-North Mahaska 12, G-R 7. Fouled Out-none.