DIKE — Every time the Rebels made a layup, a Mathern got more room to shoot.

The sixth-ranked Gladbrook-Reinbeck boys’ basketball team relied on that simple math to make its way to the Class 1A Substate 5 finals with Tuesday’s District 10 victory over Dunkerton, 66-51, at Dike-New Hartford High School.

Senior center Michael Boyd scored a team-leading 21 points to lead the Rebels (21-3) into the substate finals for the 11th time in the last 14 seasons. Gladbrook-Reinbeck will face North Mahaska (21-3) on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at the Roundhouse in Marshalltown for the right to advance to the season-ending state tournament in Des Moines.

G-R senior guards Brandon Mathern and Austen Mathern both scored 17 points, combining to make eight of the team’s nine 3-pointers — Boyd made the other — as the inside-out aspect of the Rebels’ attack was too much for Dunkerton (18-6) to absorb.

“We were able to execute in the half-court,” said G-R head coach Brett Bengen. “We work from the painted area out. If we can take care of the painted area, that gives those guards open shots and loosens up that stuff for Michael and Drew (Eilers).”

Eilers added nine points in the paint for the Rebels, who will return to the Roundhouse in pursuit of their sixth state tournament appearance.

“We played there a couple years ago, we won there, beat Lynnville-Sully, so hopefully we can keep it going,” said Austen Mathern, whose five field goals were all 3-pointers. He made three triples in the second quarter alone, including back-to-back treys in the final minute of the first half to help the Rebels to a 36-28 lead at the break.

“You never really know,” Austen said of the Matherns’ 3-point shooting prowess. “It’s always going to be one of us, though. It’s never none of us.

“I hit like three in a minute span and I knew this was my night.”

Austen added that third trey early in the third quarter to give G-R a 41-28 lead, but Dunkerton refused to go away. The fourth-highest scoring team in all of 1A, the Raiders (74.04) kept coming.

Dunkerton cut the deficit down to seven by the end of the third quarter, but the inside-out attack of the Rebels wouldn’t be stopped. Boyd got a three-point play to open the fourth quarter and Austen again sank a trey, making it 54-41 G-R with 6:30 to go. The Raiders never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.

“That’s a really good basketball team that has no quit,” Gladbrook-Reinbeck head coach Brett Bengen said of Dunkerton. “This game’s a game of runs, runs are going to happen, and it’s how you respond to those.

“This was a lot of fun. That’s what these games are about when you get this far into the season. They’re all supposed to be like this. It’s loud, the gym’s hot, and both teams are competing and getting after each other.”

Dunkerton’s determination was led by Noah Fuelling, who scored a game-high 24 points to lead the Raiders. Dylan Marquart scored 12 points, but only two in the second half, as the Rebels racheted up their defense after intermission. Aidan Hesse added seven points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

“Up and down they were good,” Austen said of the Raiders. “If we made a run, they made a run themselves. Every team’s going to make a run, no team is going to give up, so that’s what we were ready for.”

The Rebels will now prepare for North Mahaska, which defeated Montezuma 66-57 in their District 9 final at Grinnell High School.

“I’m so proud of these guys,” Bengen said. “I love going to practice with them every day, they’re fun to be around, and I just really enjoy it.

“We’ll do three more practices, we’ll play a game and see what happens on Saturday night.”

Gladbrook-Reinbeck 66, Dunkerton 51

DUNKERTON (18-6) — Mason Michels 0 0-0 0, Dylan Marquart 3 4-4 12, Noah Fuelling 8 5-5 24, Aidan Hesse 3 1-2 7, Dalton Weepie 3 0-2 6, Lane McIntosh 0 0-0 0, Colin Snyder 1 0-0 2, Wyatt Fettkether 0 0-0 0, Braiden Lauritzen 0 0-0 0, Caybrin Schilling 0 0-0 0, Kayden Kite 0 0-0 0, Shiloh Schuety 0 0-0 0, Andrew Sadler 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18 10-13 51.

GLADBROOK-REINBECK (21-3) — Brandon Mathern 4 6-8 17, Austen Mathern 5 2-2 17, Hudson Clark 1 0-0 2, Drew Eilers 4 1-2 9, Michael Boyd 7 6-10 21, Kooper Larsen 0 0-0 0, Trevor Mathern 0 0-0 0, Thomas Keller 0 0-0 0, Cameron Sieh 0 0-0 0, Hunter Roberts 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 21 15-22 66.

DUNKERTON 11 17 13 10 — 51

G-R 18 18 12 18 — 66

3-Point Goals–Dunkerton 5 (Fuelling 3, Marquart 2), G-R 9 (A.Mathern 5, B.Mathern 3, Boyd). Team Fouls–Dunkerton 15, G-R 11. Fouled Out–Hesse.