Ankeny Centennial’s second-quarter performance and 3-point shooting quickly overcame the Bobcats.

Marshalltown had early success against Class 5A No. 10 Ankeny Centennial and trailed 13-7 midway through the first quarter. The Jaguars found some separation at the end of the first quarter with 7-2 run to take a 22-9 lead.

“This game reminded me a lot of the [64-23 Valley loss] where we started and came out with a lot of defensive intensity,” Marshalltown head coach Brian Murphy said. “We knew coming in that they had a couple of post players that are really solid that like to do a lot of high-low or post up top and feeding it down. We did a really good job of helping down and still denying shooters.”

However, Ankeny Centennial took full ownership of the game as the Jaguars opened the second quarter with 13-0 run and outscored the Bobcats 18-2 in the quarter to take a 40-11 lead at the half.

T-R PHOTO BY ANDREW ABADIE - Marshalltown senior Emma Younkin, left, drives to the basket past Ankeny Centennial defender Cleao Murray (25) during the first half of Tuesday’s basketball game at the Roundhouse.

“They are a very well-coached team,” Murphy said. “There is not a lot of drop off. Everyone that comes off the bench can shoot. They have a lot of height which is something you either have or you don’t. We did our best to take that away but their outside shooting proved to be too much.”

The Jaguars offense was spearheaded by their 3-point shooting as Ankeny Centennial made six of their 3-points in the first half.

“Eventually their physicality wore us down a little bit,” Murphy said. “I think they hit five or six 3-pointers in the first half. No one player had more than two. They spread the shooting out. We came in and executed our game plan in the first quarter and then once some of those 3-pointers started dropping and their physical defense was wearing us down that score started to escalate pretty quickly. We had a good start but we have got to keep building off that momentum and not stopping after that first initial push.

“I thought our aggressiveness on offense really dropped and I think a lot of that had to do with basically getting worn down from having to go after balls that got turned over and sprinting on the fast break. Our guards were scrambling and trying to close out and doing a real good job on defense and we just kind of burned up all of our energy that we needed to really stay aggressive in the second quarter.”

The Bobcats found a better rhythm in the second half and were outscored 13-9 in the third quarter and matched the Jaguars’ seven points in the fourth quarter.

T-R PHOTO BY ANDREW ABADIE

“We know that there is going to be tough stretches in our conference,” Murphy said. “The most important thing we can do every single game is to try to get better both individually and as a team. What I’m proud of is that you can see our defense is incrementally getting better for stretches. I still don’t know if we have put together a full game yet but I think our defense is getting locked in. Offensively, we’re still often a step slow. We don’t have quite the right read and you can just see that the teams are anticipating what we are doing and so we have to mix it up a lot better of beyond what worked last time is not going to work the next time.”

Priscila Vergara had a team-leading seven points while Madi Finch and Erica Johnson each scored six points.

“I thought Priscila Vergara had a really nice game attacking the rim. She knocked down a 3-pointer for us early. She was looking to attack. She really did a nice job of putting her head down and getting into the paint for the most part.”

Marshalltown will go on the road to play Mason City on Friday at 6:15 p.m.

“We have got another tough opponent against Mason City,” Murphy said”. They are a team that is going to spread out a little bit more. But they play a very similar physical defense. We have got two days to prepare for that. We have got to ramp up the intensity in practice.”

T-R PHOTO BY ANDREW ABADIE

Ankeny Centennial 60, Marshalltown 27

At Marshalltown

Centennial (6-4) — Taylor Runchey 1 0-0 3, Jackie Pippett 7 1-2 16, Cleao Murray 3 0-0 7, Alexandra Keanhna-Harris 5 0-2 10, Meg Burns 2 0-0 6, Jenny Hagg 0 0-0 0, Averi Porter 0 0-0 0, Makenna Clark 0 1-2 1, Olivia Anderson 0 2-4 2, Elle Street 2 0-0 5, Ella Becker 1 0-0 3, Lindsey Wessel 0 0-0 0, Lizzie Storm 0 1-2 1. TOTALS 18 6-14 60

Marshalltown (2-9) — Erica Johnson 1 4-6 6, Madi Finch 2 1-2 6, Priscilla Vergara 2 2-2 7, Gabby Himes 1 1-2 3, Olvia Brintnall 0 0-0 0, Lily Roberts 1 0-0 3, Aida Almanza 0 0-0 0, Emma Younkin 1 0-0 2, Avygail Smith 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 8 8-12 27

CENTENNIAL 22 18 13 7 — 60

MHS 9 2 9 7 — 27

3-Point Goals — AC 8 (Keahna-Harris 2, Robben, Runchey, Street, Pippett, Becker, Murray), MHS 3 (Roberts, Finch, Vergara. Total Fouls–AC 10, MHS 8. Fouled Out–none.