The Marshalltown sophomore was willing to do whatever it took to lift the boys basketball team to victory over Des Moines Lincoln on Tuesday night, and his 3-pointer in the final seconds helped the Bobcats close out the Railsplitters, 52-43, at the Roundhouse.

Lincoln trimmed the MHS lead down to 45-43 with under a minute to go on a Lionel Parks bucket, and the Bobcats responded moments later with a Tre Brooks drive-and-dish to Smith who drilled the corner three for his fifth 3-pointer of the night.

“We had a play where we wanted Tre going towards the basket and getting something to the rim,” MHS head coach Michael Appel said. “And if Kyle’s man helped on that, that’s a great option for us to pass it to him. And luckily for us, Kyle knocked it down, that’s a big shot for us.”

Smith finished with a game-high 19 points. Cory Smith added 10 points and Carter Giannetto had eight points for the Bobcats, improving to 2-4 overall.

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - Marshalltown’s Rogelio Ceren (24) and Cory Smith (far right) battle for a rebound with Des Moines Lincoln’s Charlie Fry during the second half of Tuesday’s basketball game at the Roundhouse.

“I just wanted to win the game,” Kyle Smith said. “I felt locked in so I shot it, it went in and I just got back on defense.”

The Railsplitters tried to answer with a three in transition that was off the mark and Kyle and Rogelio Ceren added free throws down the stretch to pad the advantage.

Charlie Fry led the Railsplitters with 18 points and was a handful in the paint along with Damarius Parker’s 14 points for the visitors.

“We just have to stop the drive a little better, close out better, and once we get that I think we’ll be a really good defensive team,” Kyle Smith said.

It’s a back-to-back triumph for the Bobcats after Friday’s first win of the season against Mason City.

“Our effort was really, really good tonight,” Appel said. “We played hard and held a team to 43 points when we struggled to score. That’s what I want, to win games when things aren’t necessarily going our way, to still get stops, and we did a good job of that tonight.”

MHS senior Tre Brooks added seven points in his first start at home.

“Definitely helps to have Tre back,” Appel said. “His ability to score the ball is huge for us and applies some pressure on the defense to get other guys open looks.

“We’re still understanding time and score. Sometimes we’re shooting it quick with 25 seconds on the shot clock and so we’re trying to understand when those shots are good and when we need to slow it down and get something to the rim.”

Marshalltown is back home against Fort Dodge on Friday.

“We all just gotta give effort every day and be the best self you can be for the team,” Kyle Smith said.

Marshalltown 52, Des Moines Lincoln 43

DM LINCOLN (2-2) — Damarius Parker 7 0-2 14, Lionel Parks 2 0-1 4, Takhi Amos 0 0-0 0, Sullivan Suarez-Quilty 0 2-2 2, Charlie Fry 7 4-5 18, Bryce Page 0 0-0 0, Peter Signs 0 0-0 0, Manas Gai 0 0-0 0, Mike Mitchell 2 0-0 5. TOTALS 18 6-10 43.

MARSHALLTOWN (2-4) — Carter Giannetto 3 2-2 8, Tre Brooks 3 0-0 7, Kyle Smith 6 2-2 19, Cory Smith 4 0-0 10, Rogelio Ceren 1 2-2 4, Jacob Thiessen 1 0-0 3, Jacob Hayes 0 0-0 0, LaMar Johnson 0 1-4 1. TOTALS 18 7-10 52.

DM LINCOLN 10 13 12 8 — 43

MHS 13 14 11 14 — 52

3-Point Goals–DML 1 (Mitchell), MHS 9 (K. Smith 5, C. Smith 2, Brooks, Thiessen). Team Fouls–DML 11, MHS 7. Fouled Out–none.