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G-R’s size too much for Mustang girls

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHFLING - Gladbrook-Reinbeck’s Kennedy Brant attacks the basket as East Marshall’s Morgan Neuroth (10) defends during the second half of Tuesday’s NICL West Division basketball game in Le Grand. Brant scored a game-high 23 points in the Rebels’ 68-20 victory.

LE GRAND — Just as it was in the first matchup of the season between NICL West foes East Marshall and Gladbrook-Reinbeck, size and length on the court was the Mustangs’ undoing.

Going down 23-3 early in the second quarter and never able to wrestle back any momentum, the Mustangs lost 68-20 on their home court to the Rebels. G-R bumped up its record to 9-10 and 2-5 in the NICL West. East Marshall dropped to 2-17 and 0-7.

Due to injuries and illness that have plagued the Mustangs all season, they only were able to use six players in the first three quarters of Tuesday night’s game — and with the minutes adding up, head coach Chris Hungerford said the girls have done extremely well to get through the season so far.

“There’ve been sicknesses, injuries, low numbers, it wasn’t easy from the beginning,” Hungerford said. “We haven’t canceled any games or anything and we’ve played everything, so that’s a positive. The other kids have stepped up and their attitudes have been good. But it’s tough, no doubt about it.”

Gladbrook-Reinbeck’s starting bigs scored early and often, with Kennedy Brant putting in a game-high 23 points and Megan Cooley contributing 20 of her own. They were the only two scorers in double-figures during the game.

In prior games this season, according to G-R head coach Amber Gerringer, the Rebels have not been able to take advantage of their interior advantages — so the win over East Marshall was a good step in the right direction.

“It’s really good that we had both of them with really big numbers,” Gerringer said. “We just did what we needed to do offensively and really focused on it. Our guards made good passes and we rebounded well. I was really happy with how they did offensively.”

G-R led 41-14 at the halftime break and slowly built the lead in the second half, continuing to get the ball inside on offense and shutting down East Marshall on the other end. Focusing heavily on making life difficult for Mustang leading scorer Morgan Neuroth, senior Emma McClintock was tasked with face-guarding Neuroth from the opening tip and preventing her from getting the ball whenever possible. The result was a rough outing, with Neuroth only able to hit two field goals (a 3-pointer in each half) and scoring seven points.

Without their leading scorer in rhythm, the Mustangs struggled with passing and struggled to get open shots. The open shots they did find would often rim out and wind up in the hands of G-R’s many long-armed rotation players, resulting in an opportunity the other direction.

With games on Thursday and Friday as the regular season begins to wind to a close, Gerringer said a comfortable win and some rest for the Rebels’ starters was a needed boost.

“We have tough games Thursday and Friday with Collins-[Maxwell] and Grundy Center, so we want them as fresh as they can be,” Gerringer said.

G-R plays Thursday at Collins-Maxwell with tip-off scheduled for 6:30 p.m. East Marshall visits No. 14 AGWSR on Friday at 6:15 p.m.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck 68, East Marshall 20

GLADBROOK-REINBECK (9-10, 2-5) — Emma McClintock 2 0-0 5, Lauren Boyer 0 0-0 0, Elly Sieh 1 1-3 3, Kennedy Brant 10 3-8 23, Megan Cooley 9 2-5 20, Aliyah Clark 0 0-0 0, Madison Resendez 0 0-0 0, Lily Dripps 2 0-0 4, Naomi Clark 0 1-2 1, Leila Thesing 0 0-0 0, Mailea McLean 0 0-0 0, Brinn Schenider 0 2-2 2, Olivia Riffey 1 0-0 2, Carrie Sexton 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 29 9-20 68.

EAST MARSHALL (2-17, 0-7) — Morgan Neuroth 2 1-2 7, Delaney Ryan 2 0-0 6, Makayla Hala 2 0-0 5, Raegan Tolle 0 0-0 0, Ava Bringmann 1 0-2 2, Lily Miller 0 0-0 0, Alivia Neuroth 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 7 1-4 20.

G-R 21 20 17 10 — 68

E. MARSHALL 2 12 3 3 — 20

3-Point Goals–G-R 1 (McClintock), EM 5 (M. Neuroth 2, Runner 2, Hala). Team Fouls–G-R 9, EM 14. Fouled Out–none.

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