T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - The Gladbrook-Reinbeck girls’ basketball team poses with its Class 1A state qualifier banner after advancing with a 43-39 win over Lynnville-Sully on Wednesday, Feb. 26, at Nevada High School. The Rebels are headed to state for the first time since 1994.

DES MOINES — Gladbrook-Reinbeck girls basketball will make its first state tournament appearance in more than 30 years on Wednesday.

The Rebels will take on defending champion North Linn in a Class 1A state quarterfinal at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines with a 5 p.m. scheduled tip-off.

“We’ve been working so hard, ever since we were little,” said G-R junior Elly Sieh. “It’s been our goal to make G-R history, to lift up the G-R program.”

Rebel basketball has struggled in most of the last decade to finish with a winning record, let alone have aspirations for state, but fortunes have changed in recent years under head coach Amber Gerringer.

“These kids have had that goal of state for these last couple years,” said Gerringer, now in her fourth year as head coach at G-R. “A lot of them have played varsity minutes for us these last couple years, and every year at the end of the season we’ve talked about climbing up to the mountain, that we’ll get there eventually.”

The Rebels reached that summit with a 43-39 win over Lynnville-Sully in a regional final on Feb. 26. Along the way, G-R also captured its first NICL West title since the 1996-1997 season.

“We’ve been working hard all summer for this,” G-R junior Brinn Schneider said. “Working through everything since we were little, just pushing through all the challenges.”

Gerringer credits her assistants, Tyler Morgan and Justina Brant, for picking up some slack when Gerringer had to step away on the second day of practice to give birth to Lincoln, a baby brother for Jackson.

“It’s been such a crazy season,” Gerringer said. “They stepped up big for the first half of the season — they’ve been so huge to have them growing along with this program, this team doesn’t exist like this without them. It’s a special season for me personally, but it’s been cool to see them contribute so much to our team, too.”

Sieh and fellow junior Kennedy Brant shoulder a big load for the Rebels. Brant averages 17.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.4 steals and two blocks per game for the Rebels; Sieh contributes 12.4 points, five rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.2 steals.

Schneider leads the team in 3-point shooting at a 30 percent clip; senior Lily Dripps contributes 4.7 points and four rebounds, and senior Dylan Mathern chips in nearly four points a game for the Rebels.

What truly stirs the drink for Gladbrook-Reinbeck is defense — the Rebels have the second best defensive average in Class 1A at just under 32 points per game, the fewest points allowed per game of the teams in the 1A field.

“We have great matchups most times, and we do a good job of shutting people down,” Gerringer said. “I think we feel good about what we can do defensively against pretty much anybody. We’ve got big girls, fast girls, a lot of different weapons we can use offensively, so it’ll be exciting to see them go to work.”

North Linn’s offense is the irresistible force to G-R’s immovable object — the Lynx are averaging 65.2 points per game, 23-1 overall and back at the state tournament for the seventh year in a row.

Molly Boge leads three Lynx in double-digit scoring at 19.6 points per game and adds six assists and five steals per game. Emilee Beuter averages 14.8 points and 7.9 rebounds; Mackenzie Bridgewater puts in 10.4 points per game. North Linn outscores opponents by an average of 32 points per game.

Dripps sees the Rebels as playing with nothing to lose.

“There was a lot of stress on winning that regional final and now there’s just a little less pressure,” Dripps said. “We want to win, but we already have our tickets secured, so I feel like we can just ride the wave.

“I feel like if we get a really good team bond going, we can come out on the court and dominate any team.”

Iowa Girls State Basketball Tournament

At Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines

CLASS 1A

Quarterfinals

Wednesday, March 5

No. 1 Council Bluffs St. Albert (22-1) vs. No. 8 Dunkerton (17-7), 1:30 p.m.

No. 4 Algona Garrigan (22-3) vs. No. 5 Montezuma (19-5), 3:15 p.m.

No. 2 North Linn (23-1) vs. No. 7 Gladbrook-Reinbeck (21-3), 5 p.m.

No. 3 Newell-Fonda (20-4) vs. No. 6 Springville (20-4), 6:45 p.m.