The savvy move for a savvy Lynx program, defending champions and aiming for an eighth-consecutive state championship game appearance.

What North Linn didn’t know was that Drew Eilers, the G-R senior who’s barely broken even on his free-throw attempts this year, had been preparing for this exact scenario – by chance, and not by choice.

Eilers was exceptional from the charity stripe on Wednesday, making seven of eight free throws in the final minute of the game as the Rebels staved off North Linn, 61-55, at Wells Fargo Arena.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck will meet Bellevue Marquette in Thursday’s semifinals scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. tip. The top-seeded Defenders bounced Remsen St. Mary’s, 64-54, in its quarterfinal matchup.

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER — Gladbrook-Reinbeck’s Drew Eilers reacts to making a basket as he was fouled during Wednesday’s Class 1A state quarterfinal against North Linn at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Eilers led the Rebels with 21 points, including making 11 of 12 free throws.

“We live to play another day,” Eilers said. “Hopefully we can get that win and you can see us again on Friday.”

Eilers scored a team-high 21 points, 5-of-5 from the field and 11-of-12 from the free-throw line, with nine rebounds. Michael Boyd added 17 points and nine rebounds; Brandon Mathern and Austin Mathern scored nine points and eight points and Hudson Clark had a game-high seven assists.

In the week leading up to Wednesday’s game, the 6-foot-3 Eilers was limited in practice with a strained groin.

There was nothing else to do but shoot free throws.

“I was confident in him because he probably shot three thousand free throws last week,” Boyd said with a laugh. “So it’s like, ‘Well, he better have done something.'”

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER — Gladbrook-Reinbeck’s Brandon Mathern (3) brings the ball up the court as North Linn’s Hayden Schmidt defends during Wednesday’s Class 1A state quarterfinal at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

North Linn had just pulled within three at 52-49 on a three-pointer by Mason Bechen when the Lynx started fouling Eilers.

The next 43 seconds were a tennis match between Eilers and Bechen, as Eilers would make all but one of his free throws while Bechen would drive to the hoop, often going the full length of the court himself, to keep putting pressure on the Rebels.

G-R finally got a stop with eight seconds to go as Bechen’s jumper missed and Brandon Mathern came down with the rebound, adding two free throws to push the advantage to six, and a final 3-pointer from Bechen was off the mark.

Bechen, North Linn’s second leading scorer in school history and the school’s all-time leader in points scored in a season, finished with a game-high 27 points for 1,823 career points and 780 for the season.

Clark and Trevor Mathern had the unenviable task of faceguarding Bechen.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy to stop him,” G-R head coach Brett Bengen added. “He’s really, really, really good. He’s fast, long, athletic, can shoot, jump, do it all. We knew it was going to be tough. But I told all these guys before today that it wasn’t easy to get in the situation that we’re in. There’s only eight of us left once we get here, so everyone’s going to be good.”

The Rebels had a bumpy road to that dramatic last minute of Wednesday’s game. Boyd, G-R’s other big man, was saddled with his second foul less than five minutes into the first quarter, and Bengen made the call to sit Boyd for the rest of the first half.

The Lynx swung a five-point Rebel lead to a 16-13 North Linn lead with under six minutes to go to halftime, but G-R put together a 12-4 run the rest of the half, leading 25-20 heading to the locker room.

“[Putting him back in] did cross my mind, but I thought we did a great job,” Bengen said. “They went on a bit of a run, and then we keep it within a few points there and take the lead going into halftime, so I’m thinking, ‘Hey, we’re doing it here with Michael sitting right next to me. Let’s let it ride.’

Boyd quickly made up for lost time, scoring nine of the Rebels’ 11 points in the third quarter.

“I was the guys’ biggest cheerleader on the bench when I was out in that first half,” Boyd said. “Trevor stepped up huge coming in for me. … We’ve had the lead going into half before here, so I was just telling the guys at halftime to stay calm and execute.”

North Linn tried to turn up the pressure late, but the Rebels were able to handle the press with no turnovers after the 3:24 mark in the fourth quarter.

“We practiced all week for that, we put more than five guys against us on the court to make it seem more crowded because that’s how it feels,” Boyd said. “Our scout team guys have just been amazing in practice, and I think we were prepared.”

The score was tied at 44-all with 3:19 left but a 3-point play for Eilers, followed by a 3-pointer for Austen Mathern put the Rebels up six and G-R never surrendered the lead from there.

The Rebel size advantage which looked good on paper played out as expected.

“We didn’t have an answer for those two monsters down low,” North Linn head coach Travis Griffith said of Eilers and Boyd. “We just didn’t shoot well, even with open looks, and then we have to foul in those last two minutes and then Eilers doesn’t miss a free throw.”

It’s the first time since 2017 that Gladbrook-Reinbeck has made the semifinal round after back-to-back quarterfinal exits in the last two seasons. That 2017 season, led by Mr. Basketball Joe Smoldt, saw the Rebels oust the North Linn team led by Jake Hilmer, Smoldt’s future teammate at Upper Iowa, in the semis before finishing as state runners-up to Grand View Christian.

“We’ve obviously had some tough losses these last couple years,” Boyd said. “But our goal ever since we were little was to win this whole thing, and we’re one step closer today, so that just feels amazing, and we’re going to keep it rolling.”

Iowa High School Boys State Basketball Tournament

CLASS 1A

Quarterfinals

Wednesday, March 12

Gladbrook-Reinbeck 61, North Linn 55

Bellevue Marquette 64, Remsen St. Mary’s 54

Madrid 68, Boyden-Hull 57

Fort Dodge St. Edmond 52, Woodbine 49

Semifinals

Thursday, March 13

No. 1 Bellevue Marquette (26-1) vs. No. 4 Gladbrook-Reinbeck (23-3), 5:30 p.m.

No. 2 Madrid (26-0) vs. No. 3 Fort Dodge St. Edmond (23-3), 7:15 p.m.

Championship

Friday, March 14

Semifinal winners, 7 p.m.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck 61, North Linn 55

At Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines

NORTH LINN (23-3) — Cole Griffith 3-6 0-0 6, Cael Benesh 1-6 0-0 2, Mason Bechen 8-21 10-11 27, Hayden Schmidt 1-2 4-4 7, Drew Ries 4-12 2-2 11, Nolan Woods 1-1 0-0 2, Cade Garman 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS 18-49 16-17 55.

GLADBROOK-REINBECK (23-3) — Brandon Mathern 3-11 3-5 9, Austen Mathern 3-12 0-0 8, Hudson Clark 2-3 0-0 4, Drew Eilers 5-5 11-12 21, Michael Boyd 7-9 0-1 17, Trevor Mathern 1-3 0-0 2, Dreyson Morgan 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 21-43 14-18 61.

NORTH LINN 10 10 16 19 — 55

GLAD.-REIN. 13 12 11 25 — 61

3-Point Goals­­–North Linn 3-20 (Bechen 1-5, Schmidt 1-1, Ries 1-8, Benesh 0-5, Garman 0-1), Gladbrook-Reinbeck 5-21 (Boyd 3-4, A. Mathern 2-10, B. Mathern 0-6, T. Mathern 0-1). Rebounds­–North Linn 23 (Bechen 5), Gladbrook-Reinbeck 31 (Eilers, Boyd 9). ­Assists–North Linn 5 (Bechen 2), Gladbrook-Reinbeck 11 (Clark 7). Fouls–North Linn 17, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 17. Fouled Out–North Linn (Ries), Gladbrook-Reinbeck (Clark).