TR PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER – Gladbrook-Rhinebeck’s Layla after the Class 1A No. 11 Rebels defeated Grundy Center 41-37 in a NICL West Division showdown Friday night in Rhinebeck. Tessing (age 10), Lily Dripps (age 12) and Kennedy Brandt celebrate. Blount scored a game-high 19 points and Gladbrook-Reinbeck earned a split season with the Spartans.
RHINEBECK — The excitement was too much for Kennedy Blount Friday night.
Brandt, Gladbrook-Rhinebeck girls basketball’s leading scorer, scored 19 points in the Rebels’ 41-37 victory over Grundy Center in a key NICL West matchup at GR High School.
After celebrating with his teammates after the final buzzer, the energetic junior returned to the bench and collapsed before heading to the locker room.
“All the adrenaline was pumping and I stopped,” Brandt said in a postgame interview while drinking half a cup of pickle juice. “It’s been a long time coming, so it means a lot to get a win and qualify for the conference championship.”
The Rebels, ranked 11th in Class 1A, will now be able to control at least part of their own destiny for the West Division title with this win, while the GR and Spartans are 4-4 each in the division table with three games remaining. They are in first place with one win and one loss.
At one point in the fourth quarter, the Rebels led by eight points, but Carly Lynch and the Spartans came back within one possession in the final minutes, and Lynch made 1 of 2 free throws to make it 40-37 with 50 seconds to play. did. To play.
GR was forced to commit a quick turnover, and then the Spartans made five 3-pointers to tie the game and bring Grundy within one point, leading to a heart-stopping development. was tightly closed. The Rebels mercifully grabbed a defensive rebound and Ellie See made it at the free throw line to seal the game.
“Our girls were playing hard and I think their legs were just tired in the last 30 seconds,” GR head coach Amber Geringer said. “Thankfully, we were able to put our hands up, shoot hard and get what we needed to win.”
The Rebels started the second half with a dominant rebounding game, scoring eight second-chance points and looking poised to make a run for it.
“Grundy is always an aggressive, tough team, but I think they made the smarter choices tonight,” Brandt said. “We attacked and became a more offensive team and had better results.”
Ellie See and Kylie Larsen each added six points for the Rebels. Lynch led Grundy with 14 points, and Eva Mundt added 11 points.
The Spartans fell to 8-6 overall and have yet to add back-to-back wins into the new year.
“We had two bad turnovers in a row in the third quarter, couldn’t get our timely shots down, and our rebounds were big,” Grundy Center head coach Matt Lindeman said. “That’s the game of basketball. … But even when things aren’t going our way, our girls are always going to try and that gives us a chance.”
GR has a big week ahead of them with road games at AGWSR and South Hardin next Tuesday and Thursday, which will determine their chances of winning the district title.
For now, the Rebels will enjoy a big win in their rivalry in front of a standing-room-only crowd in Rhinebeck.
“These games are always great,” Brandt said. “I love a good, packed gym. Our crowd always performs and we feed off of that energy.”
Gladbrook Rhinebeck 41, Grundy Center 37
Grundy Center (8-6, 4-1) — Maddie Hendershot 1 0-0 3, Kari Aldrich 2 1-2 6, Carly Lynch 5 3-6 14, Catulella Brown 0 0-2 0, Eva -Mundt 5 1-4 11, Raylin Steinmeier 1 0-0 3, Trinity Zilovsky 0 0-0 0. Total 14 5-14 37.
Gladbrook-Rhinebeck (10-2, 4-1) — Bryn Schneider 0 1-2 1, Dylan Mathern 0 0-2 0, Ellie See 2 1-2 6, Lily Dripps 1 2-4 4 , Kennedy Blount 7 4- 6 19, Olivia Liffey 1 0-0 3, Blake Mathern 0 0-0 0, Layla Sessing 1 0-2 2, Kylie Larsen 3 0-0 6. Total 15 8-18 41.
Grandy CTR. 10 4 13 10 — 37
GR 8 9 12 12 — 41
3-point goals – GC 4 (Hendershot, Aldrich, Lynch, Steinmeier), GR 3 (See, Brandt, Liffey). Team fouls – GC 16, GR 16. Foul Out – Drips.
TR PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER – Leila Tessing of Gladbrook-Rhinebeck after the Class 1A No. 11 Rebels defeated Grundy Center 41-37 in the NICL West Division showdown Friday night in Rhinebeck. (age 10), Lily Dripps (age 12) and Kennedy Brandt celebrate. Blount scored a game-high 19 points and Gladbrook Reinbeck earned a split season with the Spartans.
NEVADA — The West Marshall boys wrestling team won 19 of 22 matches, 14 of which were by pinfall.
LOS ANGELES — Eric Daley Jr. scored a career-high 23 points and UCLA ended its losing streak at four.
IOWA CITY — The second-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team won eight of 10 matches, coming away with a 28-6 victory.
