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 at Gladbrook-Reinbeck High School.

The Rebels, ranked sixth by the IHSAA, improved to 19-3 and will host Waterloo Christian for a district semifinal matchup at 7 p.m. on Thursday. 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.”

G-R averaged 37.2 percent from the 3-point line heading into 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.

It was the final game for BCLUW seniors Castell, Hill, Myers, Lucas Thomas, Carson Wayman, and Ryan Busch.

“This senior group has gone through some ups and downs,” Janssen said. “This program wasn’t in a great spot at the end of last year and this group came in and made it their mission to get that fixed. Practices halfway through the year were rough, but it was a group that finally figured out how to be athletes, and that’s something that will hopefully transcend to other BCLUW sports for the next couple years, hopefully.

“I’m thankful for what these guys did, because the most important part is to fall in love with the game, fall in love with the brotherhood and fall in love with getting out there and competing hard. … I’m excited to see what the future holds for those guys.”

G-R has now won five in a row since a loss to 2A No. 9 Aplington-Parkersburg on Jan. 31 — all three Rebel losses this season have come 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.

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 25 10-10 73.

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.