The feeling of relief, of joy, was washing over the West Marshall senior as he sunk a free throw — his 23rd point of the game — to give the Trojans a 50-35 lead over host Roland-Story with 10 seconds left. He knew then that the game was over — the Trojans would be playing at least one more game this season.

The 50-35 upset over the Norsemen took the crowd at Roland-Story High School by surprise. By the second quarter, there were murmurings in the crowd about the shots West Marshall was hitting. And the Trojans were hitting a lot.

In the first half alone, West Marshall hit five 3-pointers and got 15 of its 21 points from behind the arc. The Norsemen struggled to hit any jumpers against the West Marshall man defense.

Trojans coach Paul de Neui said the coaching staff liked its matchups against the Norsemen after watching film of them in the leadup to Monday’s game. The defense was solid — but it would be the rebounding prowess of the Trojans that played a big part in determining the game’s outcome.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING - West Marshall players celebrate at the end of their 50-35 victory over Roland-Story in Monday’s Class 2A District 13 clash in Story City.

“That was the big key,” de Neui said. “If you control the boards, you make your free throws, a lot of good things can happen to you.”

On his own, senior Ammanuel Lazard grabbed 16 rebounds for the Trojans. He added 11 points on offense and was a key cog in how the Trojans attacked Roland-Story’s variety of man and zone defenses.

West Marshall got into a pattern of passing the ball around the perimeter and either finding an open shooter or getting a drive out of what seemed like each possession. With a nine-point leading heading into the half, the Trojans were in control.

The third quarter was a continuation of the first half — West Marshall was still hitting threes, still finishing drives to the basket and still causing problems for the Norsemen on the glass.

Jones, buoyed by his early 3-pointers, attacked the rim and was the main hub for the Trojans’ attack and his 23 points were a game-high. The lead got up to 14 by the end of the quarter at 34-20.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

Jones said the first few shots gave him the confidence to be aggressive.

“It felt good because I’ve been struggling a little bit,” Jones said. “They were really tight on Caleb [Keigan], because he’s been shooting well this year, so it opens up shots for me and Joey [Tollefson] and Q [Qwinton Wilder] and everybody.”

The Norsemen tried to mount a comeback, but the closest the game got was 42-33 with less than two minutes left. Despite making just two field goals in the final frame, the Trojans scored 16 points — aided by 20 free-throw attempts — to keep Roland-Story at bay.

It’s been a frustrating season for West Marshall. The Trojans had six wins in the regular season — which made the final result even better for de Neui.

“We told ’em every time we lost a close one, ‘We’re right there, it’s just that we have to put four quarters together,'” de Neui said. “Tonight we put four quarters together and it was a great night for us.”

The Trojans play Pella Christian Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Des Moines Christian High School.

West Marshall 50, Roland-Story 35

WEST MARSHALL (7-16) — Caleb Keigan 2 2-2 7, Qwinton Wilder 0 1-2 1, Brian Morrison 0 1-2 1, Gabe Jones 7 6-10 23, Ammanuel Lazard 4 3-6 11, Joey Tollefson 2 0-1 5, Brayden Evertsen 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 16 13-23 50.

ROLAND-STORY (14-9) — Dylan Ihle 2 2-2 6, Zach Twedt 0 2-2 2, Adam McIlrath 5 6-8 16, Sam Skaar 5 0-0 11, Nolan Faber 0 0-0 0, Caleb Markwadt 0 0-0 0, Wyatt Bunn 0 0-0 0, Dhanil Patel 0 0-0 0, Jacob Van Brocklin 0 0-0 0, Nick Hansen 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 12 10-12 35.

WEST MARSHALL 10 11 13 16 — 50

ROLAND-STORY 6 6 8 15 — 35

3-Point Goals — WM 5 (Jones 3, Tollefson, Keigan), R-S 1 (Skaar). Total Fouls — WM 13, R-S 20. Fouled Out — none.