Rallying Rebels triumph over Mustangs in OT

   REINBECK – The postseason excitement was in the air for the Gladbrook-Reinbeck boys basketball team’s NICL West finale against East Marshall on Tuesday.
   After playing ahead so often this season, the Rebels showed they can play from behind in a high-stakes battle with the Mustangs, rallying for a 60-55 overtime victory in Reinbeck that clinched the third-consecutive undefeated season in conference play.
   “We didn’t want to go out on a losing note in conference,” G-R captain Joe Smoldt said. “We clinched (the title) on Friday and we knew that, but we also knew we had something on the line tonight. … This was a statement game for us, even though we didn’t show it in the first half, we regrouped and it showed in the last two and a half minutes.”
   Smoldt led the Rebels with 37 points, with 27 coming in the second half and overtime, in addition to four steals and two assists. Tyler Pierce scored seven points with nine rebounds and Caden Kickbush added eight rebounds and five points, including the game-tying bucket with about 45 seconds left in regulation that completed the Rebels’ comeback from a 44-35 deficit midway through the fourth quarter.

   Kickbush’s equalizer was set up by a G-R press that forced East Marshall into back-to-back timeouts on the previous two possessions, and the third inbounds attempt was tipped by Tyler Pierce to a waiting Kickbush.
   “There was nothing I could do but make it,” Kickbush said. “I had no choice. … I had to make it for my team.”
   The full story will appear in the Feb. 16 Grundy Register.