Kyle Smith

DES MOINES — Kyle Smith scored five of his game-high 28 points in overtime to lift the Marshalltown boys’ basketball team to a season-opening 53-50 victory over Des Moines Lincoln on Tuesday night.

The Bobcats (1-0) led by as many as 12 points during the early stages of the third quarter, but Des Moines Lincoln (0-1) rallied behind timely 3-point shooting. The Railsplitters outscored MHS 12-5 in the fourth quarter to force overtime, getting the tying 3-pointer from Bryan De Meyer with 19.6 seconds remaining.

Bryce Page’s free throw 1:18 into overtime gave Lincoln its first lead of the game, 43-42, but Smith sank a 3-pointer to regain the lead for Marshalltown. Lincoln got the next five points to go in front 48-45 before the Bobcats scored the next six. Jacob Hayes hit a pair of back-cut layups and Drake Gersema made two free throws, but Lincoln got back to within one on a layup by Rico Mann.

Smith sank two free throws with eight seconds remaining and the Railsplitters missed a two-point shot as time expired.

Hayes finished with 13 points to complement Smith’s hot start. Smith had 17 of Marshalltown’s 27 first-half points and totaled four 3-pointers and 6-for-8 shooting from the free-throw line.

“I thought we started off really well, we were executing well on offense and defensively we were really good to start the game,” said MHS head coach Michael Appel. “I was very proud of how we responded going to overtime. It’s not an easy thing to do when you lose that lead and they come back like that and they’ve got some momentum.”

Lengthy scoring droughts in the second half opened the door to Lincoln’s comeback. The Bobcats were stuck on 40 for nearly five minutes of the fourth quarter, finally getting on the board with Gersema’s driving layup to make it 42-39 inside the final minute.

Gersema ended up with five points to go with seven rebounds and six assists, while Smith had 10 boards and Hayes six.

Talon Halsted didn’t score but had five rebounds, while MHS freshmen Damian Segovia and Larrs Schoenfelder chipped in with four and three points, respectively, as rookie starters in the season opener.

“We made about four or five mistakes in a row right at the end (of regulation), but we’re going to learn,” Appel said. “We’re starting two freshmen right now. Talon played I thought great with the minutes he had for not having very much experience at the varsity level, so we’re making progress.

“It’s not gonna all happen right away, but if they continue to work hard and to be coachable to continue to stay together as a team and as a unit, we’ll continue to get better and better.”

Adom Kwakye led the Railsplitters with 13 points, Mann finished with 11, and De Meyer made three 3-pointers for nine.

The Bobcats play their first home games on back-to-back nights this week, hosting Newton on Thursday and Des Moines East on Friday.

Marshalltown 53, Des Moines Lincoln 50, OT

MARSHALLTOWN (1-0) — Drake Gersema 1 3-4 5, Kyle Smith 9 6-8 28, Damian Segovia 1 2-2 4, Jacob Hayes 5 3-4 13, Larrs Schoenfelder 1 1-2 3, Talon Halsted 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17 15-20 53.

DM LINCOLN (0-1) — Lionel Parks 3 1-4 7, Bryan De Meyer 3 0-0 9, Henry Fry 1 0-0 3, Bryce Page 0 1-2 1, Kayden Reeves 0 0-0 0, Adom Kwakye 5 0-4 13, Manas Gai 4 3-3 11, Rico Mann 3 0-1 6. TOTALS 19 5-14 50.

MHS 11 16 10 5 11 — 42

DM LINCOLN 5 12 13 12 8 — 50

3-Point Goals–MHS 4 (Smith 4), DML 7 (De Meyer 3, Kwakye 3, Fry). Team Fouls–MHS 17, DML 19. Fouled Out–none.