The Gladbrook-Reinbeck boys’ basketball team has a chance to add another 2016-17 state championship tombstone trophy to its case this week. GR plays undefeated North Linn in the first 1A semifinal, which tips off half an hour after this blog post goes live (and if you’re not there, good luck trying to watch it).
GR won the 1A football championship by beating a private school (Algona Garrigan), and to win the basketball title either GR or North Linn will have to do the same thing. The other semifinal is Grand View Christian against Remsen St. Mary’s.
The 2A boys will have a private school in the state final for the 13th time in 14 years. Three of the four semifinalists are private, including Western Christian, which could have a triple quadruple championship year after taking home slabs for football, volleyball, and girls’ basketball.
UPDATE/EDIT: Western Christian has swept the four major sports so far this year. The overall total is Western Christian 4, other private schools 5 (including GVC over GR), all public schools 10.