Gladbrook-Reinbeck To Play For First Championship

Gladbrook-Reinbeck is making the most of its first appearance at the boys state basketball tournament. The Rebels are one win away from capping an unbeaten season and claiming the team's first title.

Top-ranked Gladbrook-Reinbeck (27-0) survived a hard-nosed semifinal against No. 8 Earlham, 60-45, Thursday morning (March 12, 2015). The Rebels took the lead midday through the first quarter and never relinquished it, even as the Cardinals (24-3) cut the margin to six points twice in the fourth quarter.

Both times Earlham cut the margin to two possessions, Camden Kickbush rose to the challenge for the Rebels. Playing with four fouls, the senior guard answered with a layup. Kickbush was one of four players to tally double-figures for Gladbrook-Reinbeck, finishing the day with 13 points.

Joe Smoldt made his bid to be captain of the all-tournament team, scoring a game-high 20 points while going 4-for-4 from the line. Through two games state tournament games, the sophomore guard leads all Class-1A players with 51 points -- 14 more than teammate Kickbush and Derrik Kerns of Maple Valley-Anthon-Oto.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck owned a 27-20 at halftime and stretched the lead to its widest margin at 13 points early in the fourth quarter. A 3-pointer by Smoldt with 7:40 remaining put the Rebels up 41-28.

From there, they held on for the win. Free throw shooting was a big factor. The Rebels made 11-straight free throws in the final eight minutes while shooting 19-of-25 from the line during the game.

Senior center Zach Pierce scored 14 points for Gladbrook-Reinbeck and grabbed a team-high 7 rebounds. Pierce has 17 rebounds through two games, the second-highest total among Class-1A players.

Cameron Clark also provided an offensive punch for the Rebels, scoring 10 points over the final three quarters.

By beating Earlham, Gladbrook-Reinbeck now has a chance to finish the season like every team wishes it could -- with a state championship. The Rebels get that opportunity at 6:06 p.m. on Friday when they face Maple Valley-Anthon-Oto. The Rams (26-1) beat Danville (26-1) in the other semifinal, 59-57, on a Shawn Flanigan layup at the horn.