North Linn falls to Gladbrook-Reinbeck in Class 1A state hoops tournament quarterfinals

DES MOINES - The shots were good. Until they weren’t.

That probably doesn’t make much sense, so let’s explain.

North Linn’s boys’ basketball team executed offensively well enough Wednesday morning in its Class 1A state tournament quarterfinal to get a number of open looks. But not enough of those open looks went in, so the Lynx fell to Gladbrook-Reinbeck, 61-55.

“It was definitely shooting and rebounding,” North Linn’s Mason Bechen said. “They shot it better than us, outrebounded us defensively. It just came down to them hitting big shots.”

These teams were tied at 44 down the stretch in the fourth quarter, with this sequence describing what Bechen was talking about. Drew Eilers had an inside and-one for G-R, then after an empty North Linn possession, Austen Mathern splashed a wing 3-pointer to put the Rebels (23-3) up six with 2:21 left.

  Buy Photo

The Lynx (23-3) had to play catch up the rest of the way but couldn’t catch up. Most of that had to do with the aforementioned Eilers, who hit seven free throws in the final minute.

He went 11 for 12 in the game, despite coming in shooting 58.2 percent this season.

“It was like do you want to keep fouling him?” North Linn Coach Travis Griffith said. “Well, yeah, because he’s the worst free-throw shooter (percentage wise) out there.”

“Down here, seniors step up when they’re in big moments and in the spotlight,” Bechen said. “He definitely stepped up.”

So did Bechen. The senior guard finished a great career with 27 points, including 14 of his team’s final 18, playing all 32 minutes.

He ended with a school-record 780 points this season and 1,823 in his career, which is second in school history to former Iowa Mr. Basketball Jake Hilmer, who is playing professionally in Europe.

“He is a really, really, really good player,” said Gladbrook-Reinbeck Coach Brent Bengen. “He’s fast, he’s long, he can shoot it ... He can do it all.”

Bechen’s ability to get downhill on dribble-drives was unparalleled, especially in 1A.

“He had everything thrown at him every single game by everybody,” Griffith said. “People say well, we run it up at the end of games, but he doesn’t play at the end of games. I maybe pulled him too early, didn’t want him to get hurt. You see him faceguarded and double teamed, and he’s still able to score and be a leader and do things for us. We wouldn’t be here without him. A kid like that, it’s not just his ability, but he can lead.”

Outside of Bechen, things were just kind of rough in this game offensively for North Linn. Even with him, the Lynx shot just 36.7 percent from the field, including 3 for 20 from beyond the 3-point arc.

And, again, these were by and large open 3-point attempts.

“I think we got the shots we wanted,” said North Linn’s Drew Ries, who had 11 points. “We just didn’t hit them, the big shots. We were open, but they wouldn’t fall.”

This was the ninth consecutive appearance at the state tournament for North Linn, its record string of seven straight years in a championship game ended. This was the first time in the nine-year run the Lynx didn’t win their quarterfinal.

The three losses were the most in a season for the school since 2014-15 (18-6 record). Simply incredible.

North Linn seniors Bechen, Ries, Cole Griffith, Cael Benesh, Hayden Schmidt and Cade Garman went 102-6 in their careers. Next season will be a rebuild, considering these massive graduation losses and that there were no juniors on the roster, thus no seniors next year.

“It sucks,” Bechen said bluntly. “But I’m definitely proud of this senior group. Us six, it’s going to be tough (to accept).”

“Started with them in second grade and had them all the way through,” Coach Griffith said. “With our size, what we were able to do ... I knew we were in trouble down here just because of a lack of being able to press and a lack of size. But I wouldn’t trade it, wouldn’t trade them. These kids are great.”

  Buy Photo

--------

AT DES MOINES

NORTH LINN (55): Drew Ries 4-12 2-2 11, Mason Bechen 8-21 10-11 27, Hayden Schmidt 1-2 4-4 7, Cael Benesh 1-6 0-0 2, Cole Griffith 3-6 0-0 6, Cade Garman 0-1 0-0 0, Nolan Woods 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 18-49 16-17 55.

GLADBROOK-REINBECK (61): Drew Eilers 5-5 11-12 21, Michael Boyd 7-9 0-1 17, Brandon Mathern 3-11 3-5 9, Austen Mathern 3-12 0-0 8, Hudson Clark 2-3 0-0 4, Trevor Mathern 1-3 0-0 2, Dreyson Morgan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-43 14-18 61.

Halftime - Gladbrook-Reinbeck 25, North Linn 20. 3-point goals - North Linn 3-20 (Benesh 0-5, Bechen 1-5, Schmidt 1-1, Ries 1-8, Garman 0-1), Gladbrook-Reinbeck 5-21 (B. Mathern 0-6, A. Mathern 2-10, Boyd 3-4, T. Mathern 0-1). Rebounds - North Linn 23 (Bechen 5), Gladbrook-Reinbeck 31 (Eilers, Boyd 9). Total fouls - North Linn 17, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 17. Fouled out - Ries, Clark. Assists - North Linn 5 (Bechen 2), Gladbrook-Reinbeck 11 (Clark 7). Turnovers - North Linn 7, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 15.

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