Thomas got fouled trying to shoot an 18-foot jumper with 2.3 seconds left and made both free throws, lifting the Bobcats to a 42-40 victory over the visiting Cardinals in Thursday’s non-conference game at the Roundhouse.

Newton (1-2) still managed to get a decent look at a long 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded, but Noah Allen’s desperation heave was off the mark.

Thomas, who is ninth in Class 4A averaging 22.3 points per game, finished with 24 points to lead all scorers.

“I kind of wish he would have attacked the basket more, but at the end of the day he made a play and got to the free-throw line and knocked them down,” Appel said. “That’s the most important thing.”

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - Marshalltown sophomore guard Armonniey Thomas (10) attempts a shot while guarded by Newton’s Adam Mattes in the final seconds of Thursday’s game at the Roundhouse. Thomas was fouled on the play and made two deciding free throws for the 42-40 Bobcat win.

Thomas may have scored all eight of Marshalltown’s points in the first quarter, but it was what he meant to the comeback the Bobcats (2-2) made in the third quarter that made the biggest difference. MHS trailed by as many as nine points in the second quarter, trailed 21-16 at the half, and led 27-26 going into the fourth. Thomas tallied another seven points in the third quarter and Trevor Stamp scored the other four as the Bobcats took their first lead of the game with a 9-2 run firing out of the locker room.

A simple set play got Stamp going on the post on the first possession of the third period, and he and Thomas shared the load from there. Allen’s 3-pointer brought the Cardinals back to within one, 27-26, just before the buzzer sounded the end of the period, snapping Marshalltown’s 9-0 run over the final seven minutes.

Newton knocked down 3-of-4 free throws on the same possession thanks to an offensive rebound, regaining a 29-27 lead to start the fourth. Stamp made his first of two free throws on the other end, and Will Van Buren did the same after snaring himself an offensive board to tie the game at 29-all. The two evenly matched teams slugged it out from there, going back and forth before a 3-pointer by Thomas with 3:10 to go landed a big blow.

Thomas made 1-of-2 free throws to make it a three-point game, 40-37, with 1:44 to play, and Kyle Long’s 3-point attempt came up empty on the other end for the Cardinals. However, the Bobcats turned the ball over on their ensuing possession and Allen made it hurt with his 3-pointer from the wing with 44 seconds showing.

Appel used a timeout to set the stage for Thomas to take the potential go-ahead shot for the Bobcats, and it worked out when Adam Mattes was whistled for a foul as Thomas tried get off a jumpshot.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Newton got as good of a look at a buzzer-beater as it could have asked for, needing to go the length of the court in 2.3 seconds, but Allen’s prayer went unanswered.

“We can’t miss as many layups as we did tonight and their best shooter was wide open for that shot at the end, and we can’t allow that to happen,” Appel said. “We want to see effort the whole game, and as a coaching staff we’re still not satisfied with that. We can’t afford to miss an assignment or forget to block out or not set a screen on offense.”

Stamp finished with 10 points — eight in the second half — as he and Thomas combined to score 34 of the Bobcats’ 42 points. Van Buren and Dwight Joar both finished with three points and Drake Kapayou got a bucket.

Long led Newton with 12 points, while Allen and Mattes both finished with nine. Quintrail Coley put up eight points in the paint for the Cardinals.

Marshalltown plays its third game of the week tonight, going on the road for its CIML Iowa Conference opener at Southeast Polk.

Marshalltown 42, Newton 40

At Marshalltown

NEWTON (1-2) — Noah Allen 3 0-0 9, Kyle Long 4 0-0 12, Adam Mattes 4 1-2 9, Kaleb Dydell 1 0-0 2, Quintrail Coley 3 2-2 8, Zayvier Arguello 0 0-0 0, Cody Satterfield 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 15 3-4 40.

MHS (2-2) — Armonniey Thomas 8 4-6 24, Drake Kapayou 1 0-0 2, Will Van Buren 1 1-1 3, Dwight Joar 1 0-0 3, Trevor Stamp 4 2-6 10, Drake Polley 0 0-0 0, Austin Shomo 0 0-0 0, Justin Melde 0 0-0 0, Aidan DeVolder 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 15 7-13 42.

NEWTON 11 10 5 14 — 40

MHS 8 8 11 15 — 42

3-Point Goals–Newton 7 (Long 4, Allen 3), MHS 5 (Thomas 4, Joar). Total Fouls–Newton 14, MHS 11. Fouled Out–none.