JEWELL – Joe Smoldt took two dribbles between three defenders, went airborne and heaved a three-quarter court shot toward his bucket as the horn sounded to end the first half here Tuesday night.

Right on line, the prayer came within an inch of being answered, but instead bounced off the front of the rim and fell to the floor.

It was almost a surprise it didn’t splash through the net. Everything else had for the Gladbrook-Reinbeck scoring machine in the game’s first 16 minutes.

Smolt drained 8 of 9 shots in the first half and scored 20 points to send his ninth-ranked (Class 1A) Rebels to a big lead that they never relinquished in an entertaining 77-71 victory over South Hamilton on Coach Jim Marsh Court.

Down 35-22 at the half, the Hawks made things interesting and got as close as a point in the closing minute of the third quarter, but could never take that elusive lead that might have made the difference.

Smoldt finished with a game-high 31 points; he averages 26.1.

“He’s a very good player,” South Hamilton head coach Nathan Hill said of Smoldt. “He’s got such a quick shot, really almost like a Steph Curry, and he jumps well. He’s tough.”

Smoldt did the brunt of his damage while shooting over shorter defenders Marco Balderas and Conner Hill in the first half. Six-foot-5 Collin Hill took over the defensive duties after the intermission and limited Smoldt to just two field goals the remainder of the way.

But with Collin Hill chasing on the perimeter, that left the paint open for reigning state champion G-R to dominate on the glass. After collecting just one offensive rebound in the first half, the Rebels corralled 10 in the third and fourth quarters. Tyler Pierce collected all seven of his after the break and scored nine of his 13 points during the stretch.

“Unfortunately, we just have some personnel mismatches and it showed,” Nathan Hill said. “We were right there in the second half, but then Pierce just killed us with offensive rebounds.”

Brothers Collin and Conner Hill accounted for 44 points in the loss. Collin poured in 27 to go along with seven rebounds, while Conner went a perfect 6 of 6 from the field – five of his makes were second-half 3-pointers – for 17 points.

Balderas had himself a game as well and finished with a double-double – 10 points and 10 assists – as well as five steals.

South Hamilton made its first five shots from the field and led 11-8 midway through the first half, but G-R responded by outscoring the Hawks 19-9 in the second quarter.

“I really felt like we didn’t have that sense of urgency in the first half,” Nathan Hill said. “They punched us in the mouth and we let them. But I like the fight I saw in the second half.”

Conner Hill’s second-half bombing campaign included three triples in the initial 6:20 of the third quarter. The Hawks eventually got to within 48-47 on back-to-back buckets by Balderas and Collin Hill.

Two more Conner Hill 3’s early in the fourth kept the Hawks within three points, but they never got closer. A banked-in 3 from the wing by the Rebels’ Matt Roeding extended the cushion back to seven and it eventually reached 10 with under 3 minutes remaining.

“You can’t get down by that many against a good team,” Nathan Hill said. “You can make a run on a good team, but it’s hard to keep that run going.”

Logan Klemp gave South Hamilton a fourth scorer in double figures, as he registered 12 points to go along with four rebounds. Trey Woodall added five points.