Prince Jallah

OTTUMWA — The Bulldogs pushed back every time the Marshalltown boys’ basketball team tried to get over the hump.

Ottumwa earned its fourth-straight win by withstanding the Bobcats on Tuesday night, prevailing 64-51 in a CIML clash at Evans Middle School.

Trae Swartz, the fifth-leading scorer in Class 4A, tallied a team-leading 22 points to help Ottumwa (8-3) take every shot the Bobcats had and counter them effectively. Gatlin Mennenga added 16 points, Adam Greiner finished with 11 and Joe Hammer had 10 as the Bulldogs scored the game’s final 10 points to break open a close game late.

Marshalltown (2-8) trailed by its greatest margin of 12 at the close of the third quarter but came all the way back to within three, 54-51, on Drake Kapayou’s fourth 3-pointer of the night. The final two minutes were all Bulldogs, however, as the Bobcats suffered defeat on the road.

“They’re very experienced and they’re playing with a lot of confidence right now,” MHS head coach Michael Appel said of Ottumwa. “They moved the ball well, [Swartz] is a problem with his physicality, he’s a good player and he’s tough to stop. And their other guys stepped up and hit some big ones when we tried to come back.”

Bobcat sophomore Prince Jallah scored a career-high 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting to go with nine rebounds to lead MHS, while Kapayou finished with 14 points. Armonniey Thomas suffered a cold shooting night and ended with five points.

“Prince had a good game tonight, probably his best game of the year,” Appel said. “He was understanding what spots to be in against their zone and he was being aggressive around the rim.”

Isaiah Borgos got a pair of 3-pointers to drop and Justin Melde also made a trey to contribute three points off the bench.

Marshalltown heads back out on the road Friday to finish the week at No. 4 Ankeny Centennial. The Jaguars beat the Bobcats in their first meeting, 72-62, on Dec. 18 at the Roundhouse.

Ottumwa 64, Marshalltown 51

MARSHALLTOWN (2-8) — Armonniey Thomas 1 3-4 7, Grant Greazel 0 0-0 0, Drake Kapayou 4 2-2 14, Prince Jallah 10 3-4 23, Dwight Joar 0 0-0 0, Justin Melde 1 0-0 3, Isaiah Borgos 2 0-0 6. TOTALS 18 8-10 51.

OTTUMWA (8-3) — Gatlin Menninga 7 2-2 16, Kie Glosser 0 0-0 0, Joe Hammer 2 4-4 10, Trae Swartz 9 1-2 22, Adam Greiner 4 2-4 11, Matt Graeve 1 0-0 3, Armani Robinson 0 0-0 0, Mason Young 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 24 9-12 64.

MHS 7 13 13 18 — 51

OTTUMWA 17 12 16 19 — 64

3-Point Goals–MHS 7 (Kapayou 4, Borgos 2, Melde), Ottumwa 7 (Swartz 3, Hammer 2, Graeve, Greiner). Team Fouls–MHS 15, Ottumwa 14. Fouled out–Thomas.