Like in so many games before this season, Marshalltown girls’ basketball was putting together a strong showing on the defensive end.

Holding the visiting Waterloo East Trojans to just 16 points and causing issues with their 3-2 zone. For three of four quarters, the Bobcats were able to keep pace with the Trojans on the scoreboard — but a 10-3 third quarter was enough for the visitors to pull away and take a 35-24 win Friday night. Marshalltown ends the regular season with a 3-18 record (0-8 in the Iowa Alliance North division), tying the team’s best mark since 2014-15 when MHS went 6-16. Waterloo East improved to 9-12 and 4-4 in the IAC North, their fourth-straight win heading into the postseason.

There was some better offensive action in the first half and more quality looks from the Bobcats, and while the second half was more difficult head coach Brian Murphy was pleased with the patience and overall play on that end of the floor.

“We almost passed up a few shots we could have taken in the first half, but I was really pleased with the way we were trying to get that ball in the middle and go,” Murphy said. “When they went man for a while it allowed us to build some momentum and once it went back to zone, it forced us to be more patient. It took us most of that third quarter to switch back to the mentality we had in the first quarter.”

The third quarter was wrought as Waterloo East went on a 10-0 run and took its biggest lead of the night at 26-14 before a buzzer-beating three from Sara Huffman. Huffman led the Bobcats with nine points.

Marshalltown’s second-leading scorer and a bright spot on the night was freshman Jorja Janssen, who scored eight points and played confident basketball on the offensive end.

“She showed a lot of patience and a lot of discipline with the ball, she passed up some shots and then took some really good ones as well,” Murphy said. “Jorja was huge for us, and we knew we needed some size against [Waterloo East].”

After getting within seven points on multiple occasions early, the Bobcats scored just two points in the last four minutes as a 29-22 game became 35-24.

Waterloo East’s leading scorer was Graysyn Downing with nine points. Neither team had a player break double-digits in scoring.

Up next for the Bobcats is a road game Wednesday at Urbandale in a Class 5A Region 6 quarterfinal. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Waterloo East 35, Marshalltown 24

WATERLOO EAST (9-12, 4-4) — Ruthie Hulton 2 0-3 6, Graysyn Downing 4 0-0 9, Jaelah Stanford 1 4-5 6, Siyanna Cody 3 1-2 8, Ja’Miah Ceaser 0 1-6 1, Nyla Norman 2 1-2 5, Aaliyah Weekley 0 0-0 0, Shianne Denton 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 12 7-18 35.

MARSHALLTOWN (3-18, 0-8) — Kinsley Bowie 0 0-0 0, Sara Huffman 2 3-6 8, Amaya Moore 0 0-0 0, Ellie Hughes 1 0-0 2, Sydney Kapayou 1 0-0 2, Aubrie Tejada 0 0-0 0, Anistyn Borsch 1 1-2 3, Millie Heitmann 0 0-0 0, Jorja Janssen 3 2-2 9. TOTALS 8 6-10 24.

W’LOO EAST 7 9 10 9 — 35

MHS 5 9 3 7 — 24

3-Point Goals–WE 4 (Hulton 2, Downing, Ceaser), MHS 2 (Huffman, Janssen). Team Fouls–WE 15, MHS 17. Fouled Out–Moore. Technical Foul–Weekley.