Jallah scored 19 of his game-high 26 points in the first half and helped the Bobcats kickstart their offense on the way to a 72-50 victory over Iowa Alliance North Division rivals, improving the Bobcats to 4-1 (1-0 IAC) on the season.

Leading 16-8 after the first quarter, Marshalltown extended the lead in the second quarter despite foul trouble putting starting guards Drake Kapayou and Treshaun Brooks on the bench. A lineup consisting of Jallah, Carter Giannetto, Dalen Huston, Jaxson Eisenbarth and Rogelio Ceren held down the fort and pushed the lead to 34-20 at the half. Jallah controlled the paint, scoring on multiple defenders and making defenders miss with quick footwork and ballhandling.

Huston was thrilled with Jallah’s scoring and expressed how much of a boost it is for the Bobcats to have a scorer like the senior coming off the bench.

“I believe that nobody in the state can guard Prince Jallah,” Huston said. “He’s just a great guy. Basically if he gets two feet in the paint it’s already a bucket.”

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING - Marshalltown’s Drake Kapayou (30) shoots over Mason City’s Tate Millsap (0) and makes one of his four 3-pointers during Friday’s basketball game at the Roundhouse.

The Bobcats again leaned on strong defense to take a 34-20 lead into the halftime break, but after struggling for the first half of the third quarter on the offensive end the Bobcats found another scorer — Huston.

Scoring just two points in the first half, Huston was able to assert himself in the paint with some quick moves in the post and push the Bobcat lead back into double-figures. He finished the night with 17 points of his own, one of four Marshalltown players to reach double digits.

“When I see that first one go in, it’s kind of that switch [flips] and it’s go time,” Huston said.

The third quarter ended with a big three from Kapayou, who hit four on the night for 12 points and was the second MHS player this week to hit four in a game (Eisenbarth on Tuesday against North).

After only scoring two points in the first half, Brooks scored eight in the fourth quarter to get to 10 points and keyed a 9-0 run that culminated in a Kapayou three to push the Marshalltown lead to 62-41 with 2:50 to play. MHS allowed 30 points in the second half to finish two points above the team’s stated goal of 12 points or less per quarter, but the overall scoring outburst more than made up for the difference.

A balanced night on offense with season highs for multiple players was a big boost for Bobcat head coach Michael Appel, who said MHS played its most complete game of the season against the Riverhawks.

“One of the strengths of our team is that we have a wide range of guys who can score the ball on any given night,” Appel said. “It’s a very balanced team effort and our guys take pride in that.

“We’re not worried about who’s scoring the ball, we’re worried about the final score when that final buzzer goes off. I really, truly believe that, and that’s how our guys play.”

Up next for the Bobcats is a trip to play Des Moines Lincoln Tuesday at 7:45 p.m.

Marshalltown 72, Mason City 50

MASON CITY (1-2, 0-2) — Tate Millsap 0 0-0 0, Davion Maxwell 5 4-4 15, Kale Hobart 1 3-6 5, Jess Cornick 1 2-2 4, Michael Goepel 1 0-0 2, Brayden Miller 0 0-0 0, Trevyon Stamps 8 0-0 19, Kaden Tyler 1 0-0 2, Alex Deets 0 0-0 0, David Willemsen 0 3-4 3, Cam Wiley 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17 12-16 50.

MARSHALLTOWN (4-1, 1-0) — Carter Giannetto 0 2-2 2, Treshaun Brooks 5 0-0 10, Drake Kapayou 4 0-0 12, Jaxson Eisenbarth 1 0-0 3, Dalen Huston 6 4-5 17, Gatleel Joar 0 0-0 0, Cael Sandvick 0 0-0 0, Prince Jallah 11 4-4 26, Cory Smith 0 0-0 0, Rogelio Ceren 1 0-0 2, Jose Vargas 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 28 10-11 72.

MASON CITY 8 12 11 19 — 50

MHS 16 18 10 28 — 72

3-Point Goals–Mason City 4 (Stamps 3, Maxwell), MHS 6 (Kapayou 4, Eisenbarth, Huston). Total Fouls–Mason City 16, MHS 13. Fouled Out–Hobart.