First quarters have not been kind for Marshalltown girls’ basketball when playing Ankeny schools.

In the last meeting against Ankeny High, the Hawks were up 20-2 after the first eight minutes and went on to roll 49-15. The first meeting of the season against No. 3 Ankeny Centennial went similarly poorly for the Bobcats — trailing 21-4 after the opening frame, 34-4 halfway through the second quarter and falling 66-23. Marshalltown is now 1-17 on the season with a 1-8 record in CIML Iowa Conference play. Centennial is 14-2 with a 8-1 record in conference.

Head coach Brian Murphy said the Jaguars got too many fast break baskets off of turnovers, in part because of a tentative start from the Bobcats.

“We looked jittery the first 2-3 minutes, called a couple of timeouts to try to calm things down,” Murphy said. “It takes us a while to adjust and once we do, we look like ourselves.

“I thought we had a number of those situations where we got a step and in practice, you’re at the rim, but against their length and their size that shot’s contested or blocked altogether.”

Lily Roberts was the bulk of Marshalltown’s production on offense, scoring nine of the team’s 11 first-half points and providing a real threat off the dribble.

The turnovers and lack of consistency were compounded by easy baskets from Ankeny Centennial as well as an efficiency in the half-court that was difficult for the Bobcats to totally slow down.

Two Jaguars had 16 points in the first half — Kennedy White and Cleao Murphy — and continued to score in the second half, albeit with less frequency thanks to improved defense. Improvement in the second half has been a common theme this year for the Bobcats.

Centennial’s starters hardly played in the second half with the game well in hand, and 11 players saw game time.

The length and size Centennial can utilize, combined with outside shooting, left the Bobcats’ posts on an island at times. Murphy singled out Kaylin Smith for praise for her work in the post on both ends of the floor.

“We were trying to play straight up as best we could,” Murphy said. “I thought Kaylin had one of the best games she’s had in her career on both ends of the floor, I was really impressed with her. She battled down there, did a really good job trying to scrap.”

Roberts finished with 12 points to lead the offense, while Rachel Smith scored four and Kaylin Smith hit a 3-pointer.

Up next for Marshalltown is a home game Tuesday against Ames, who the Bobcats beat on the road earlier in the season.

Ankeny Centennial 66, Marshalltown 23

ANKENY CENTENNIAL (14-2, 8-1) — Averi Porter 4 4-4 12, Makenna Clark 0 0-0 0, Kennedy White 7 4-4 18, Cleao Murray 9 0-0 20, Elle Street 1 0-0 2, Ava Martin 0 0-0 0, Jaeden Pratt 3 0-4 6, Finley Blackmore 0 0-0 0, Ella Becker 0 1-2 1, Clara Feilmeier 0 0-0 0, Tillie Smith 1 0-0 3, Layla Hughes 0 0-0 0, Maddison Balashaitis 1 2-2 4. TOTALS 26 11-16 66.

MARSHALLTOWN (1-17, 1-8) — Rachel Smith 2 0-0 4, Sara Huffman 0 0-0 0, Lily Roberts 5 0-0 12, Sophie Younkin 1 0-0 2, Kaylin Smith 1 0-0 3, Mya Gallegos 0 0-0 0, Zaielah Newman 1 0-0 2, Amaya Moore 0 0-0 0, Laney Danielson 0 0-0 0, Paige Wertzberger 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 10 0-0 23.

CENTENNIAL 21 23 11 11 — 66

MHS 4 7 7 5 — 23

3-Point Goals–AC 3 (Murray 2, T.Smith), MHS 3 (Roberts 2, K.Smith). Team Fouls–AC 6, MHS 17. Fouled Out–Moore.