Alburnett boys’ basketball done in by leaps and bounds in district finals

CENTER POINT — This is where Alburnett’s boys’ basketball program has gotten.

Tuesday night’s 52-42 loss to sixth-ranked Gladbrook-Reinbeck in a Class 1A district final boys’ basketball game was disappointing and tough to accept. Make zero mistake about that.

But when you talked to head coach Jeff Christopherson postgame, he already was looking forward to next season. He expects and wants the players in his program to expect playing deep into every postseason.

That’s where the Pirates are right now. Getting to the district finals is sort of anticipated.

“We expect year in and year out to be in this position,” Christopherson said, matter of factly. “I told them in the locker room ‘I’m not going to give you a cupcake schedule. I’m going to make you a schedule that’s going to make you better. Better basketball players.’”

Alburnett made it to the 1A state tournament championship game in 2019, losing to Grand View Christian. The following season was a 15-win season and nothing to scoff.

Last season, Alburnett played North Linn tight before losing a district final. Now there was this district final.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck (23-1) simply owned the glass, basically doubling up Alburnett (17-7) on the boards (41 to 21) and getting a ton of second, third and sometimes fourth-chance points.

While leading scorer William Kiburis was integral in this Rebels win with 21 points and nine rebounds, post Tristen Sanford-Anders was your player of this game.

The 6-foot-5 senior had 18 points and 20 rebounds, basically a double-double of epic proportions.

“LIke I say every week, all of us can score,” Sanford-Anders said. “So it’s really hard to shut down any of us because we distribute the ball so well.”

Christopherson said his staff had Gladbrook-Reinbeck with 11 first-half offensive rebounds, which led to 13 points.

“It’s hard to recover from that,” Christopherson said.

G-R extended a seven-point halftime lead to as many as 17 points late in the third. Alburnett refused to go away, whitting its disadvantage to five twice.

The first time, the Pirates even had the ball but turned it over. The second, Alburnett missed a free throw.

Senior forward Andrew Ossman had a team-best 14 points. Six of the nine guys who played Tuesday night for Alburnett return next season.

Christopherson said the seventh and eighth-grade teams at the school had a combined 41 kids participating. The future looks good.

“It’s there,” he said. “We’ll be back.”

AT CENTER POINT-URBANA

ALBURNETT (42): Andrew Ossman 5-14 2-4 14, Anthony Yamilkoski 2-3 0-0 4, Braydon Osborn 4-9 1-2 9, Mason Neighbor 1-7 0-0 2, Gavin Soukup 3-5 0-0 8, Tytan Bowers 1-5 0-0 2, Jordan Caton 0-1 0-0 0, Adam Neighbor 1-1 0-0 3, Grayson Carolan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-45 3-6 42.

GLADBROOK-REINBECK (52): William Kiburis 8-15 5-6 21, Caleb Egesdal 1-3 1-2 3, Tristen Sanford-Anders 7-18 3-5 18, Luke Riffey 2-7 0-1 4, Isaac Clark 0-1 2-2 2, Austin Vaverka 0-0 0-0 0, Drew Eilers 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 20-46 11-16 52.

Halftime - Gladbrook-Reinbeck 26, Alburnett 19. 3-point goals - Alburnett 5-17 (Ossman 2-6, Osborn 0-1, M. Neighbor 0-5, Soukup 2-3, Caton 0-1, A. Neighbor 1-1), Gladbrook-Reinbeck 1-9 (Kiburis 0-2, Egesdal 0-2, Sanford-Anders 1-1, Riffey 0-3, Clark 0-1). Rebounds - Alburnett 21 (Ossman, Yamiloski, Osborn, M. Neighbor 4), Gladbrook-Reinbeck 41 (Sanford-Anders 20). Total fouls - Alburnett 12, Gladbook-Reinbeck 9. Fouled out - None. Turnovers - Alburnett 8, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 9.

Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com