The points will come.

Even if they don’t, the Bobcats are winning with defense.

The Marshalltown boys’ basketball team held Mason City to its lowest point total since the last time the Riverhawks lost at the Roundhouse, scoring a 46-38 victory in Friday’s Iowa Alliance Conference North Division showdown.

The Bobcats beat Mason City 40-27 in their last meeting in Marshalltown (Jan. 21, 2025), but that had more to do with an off-night for the Riverhawks.

On Friday night, Marshalltown (4-1, 1-0) had them locked up.

Mason City (1-4, 0-1) was held to single-digit scoring for the first three quarters before their inevitable comeback was squashed by the Bobcats in the fourth. Jacob Hayes scored six of Marshalltown’s 11 fourth-quarter points to help his team put away the win in the divisional opener for both teams.

“I’m just, I’m kind of shocked really,” said MHS head coach Michael Appel. “I mean, we just continue to get better and better defensively. We continue to buy in and our effort’s just been great, and that’s kind of what fueled us is the culture in our locker room of buying in and understanding what we need to do and how hard we need to play.

“If we can defend like that, you’re going to find ways to usually win games.”

Marshalltown’s 46 points was just a sliver below its season average (48.25), which ranks 42nd out of 48 teams in Class 4A, but the Bobcats’ stingy defense ranks fourth in 4A by allowing just 39.2 points per game.

Mason City entered the night averaging 69.67 points per game before the Bobcats won a battle of wills, limiting the Riverhawks to one scoring opportunity per possession while scoring just enough on the other end.

Mason City jumped out to a 9-5 lead before going scoreless for more than one quarter of basketball. Marshalltown used the Riverhawks’ 8-minute, 55-second drought to go on a 15-0 run that gave the Bobcats the lead for good.

MHS led by as many as 12 points during the third quarter, but Mason City got as close as seven during the fourth.

Hayes led the Bobcats with 15 points, Kyle Smith had 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Drake Gersema got eight points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Freshman guard Damian Segovia scored a career-high 10 points, while classmate Larrs Schoenfelder finished with two points and eight boards — six of them on the offensive glass.

Mason City’s Marcele Whitner led all scorers with 17 points. Owen Rickers got eight, Jameer Falls scored seven and Ty Sanchez-Evans was limited to six.

The Bobcats go back out on the road Monday with a trip to Southeast Polk (2-2).

“I told them in the locker room where we haven’t seen a team like this,” Appel said of the Rams. “Athletic, quick, their strength — CIML teams are just a little bit different in that way, so we’ve got to be ready to play.”

Marshalltown 46, Mason City 38

MASON CITY (1-4, 0-1) — Jameer Falls 3 0-0 7, Marcele Whitner 6 5-6 17, Owen Rickers 3 1-2 8, Drayden Witt 0 0-0 0, Ty Sanchez-Evans 3 0-0 6, Drew Hobart 0 0-0 0, Tyce Washington 0 0-0 0, Nathan Berkley 0 0-0 0, Dane Hanson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 15 6-8 38.

MARSHALLTOWN (4-1, 1-0) — Drake Gersema 4 0-1 8, Kyle Smith 4 2-2 11, Damian Segovia 4 0-0 10, Jacob Hayes 6 1-2 15, Larrs Schoenfelder 1 0-0 2, Gavin Misek 0 0-0 0, Talon Halsted 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 19 3-5 46.

MC 9 5 9 15 — 38

MHS 9 13 13 11 — 46

3-Point Goals–MC 2 (Falls, Rickers), MHS 5 (Segovia 2, Hayes 2, Smith). Team Fouls–MC 10, MHS 10. Fouled Out–none.