Frankie Long

GRINNELL — The Marshalltown girls’ basketball team couldn’t capitalize on a six-day layoff and fell 32-26 at Grinnell on Monday night.

The host Tigers (5-10) shot nearly twice as many free throws as the Bobcats in handing Marshalltown (9-6) its fifth loss in seven games since the turn of the calendar.

Hope Dana scored half of Grinnell’s points, potting three 3-pointers on her way to a game-high 16 points. Ava Seney chipped in seven points for the Tigers, who never trailed in the win.

“I can only describe this as an infuriating loss,” said MHS head coach Brian Murphy. “Some nights it feels like nothing is going your way and this was absolutely one of those.”

The Bobcats scored just two points in the first quarter, five more in the second, but only trailed 13-7 at the intermission. Marshalltown got as close as three, 27-24, when Frankie Long returned to the court while battling foul trouble, but her fifth foul followed and the ‘Cats got no closer over the final 3:35 of the game.

Long led Marshalltown with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Kendall Brummel made a pair of 3-pointers in the second half for her six points.

“To Kendall Brummel’s credit, she went out ready to catch and shoot, hit a couple huge ones, and that’s that mentality we need from everybody,” Murphy said. “Certainly tonight is another game where we really felt the absence of Morgan (Hilderbrand). We’ve got capable shooters but it’s not always their instinct and I thinik that’s the thing we sometimes fight is that willingness to just let it fly even if it’s not necessarily their first instinct.”

Hilderbrand remained out of the lineup due to concussion protocol, and Brummel accounted for the Bobcats’ only 3-pointers in the loss.

Millie Heitmann contributed four points, nine rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots, and Amairra Johnson scored a bucket.

Marshalltown was held to fewer than 30 points for the fifth time this season. The Bobcats shot 4-of-16 from the free-throw line, while the Tigers went 15-for-30.

“We didn’t do enough in the first half to take advantage of our opportunities at the rim and at the line,” Murphy said. “Once things swung in the second half, it felt like we couldn’t get a single call to swing our way.

“The best thing about this game is that we have another tomorrow at Fort Dodge to take out our frustrations.”

The Bobcats visit Fort Dodge tonight in search of their first season sweep over the Dodgers since the 2012-13 campaign.

Grinnell 32, Marshalltown 26

MARSHALLTOWN (9-6) — Amairra Johnson 1 0-2 2, Kinsley Bowie 0 0-0 0, Millie Heitmann 2 0-2 4, Jorja Janssen 0 0-2 0, Frankie Long 4 4-10 12, Kendall Brummel 2 0-0 6, Mallory Meyeraan 0 0-0 0, Keira Halsted 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 10 4-16 26

GRINNELL (5-10) — Hope Dana 4 5-8 16, Ella Seney 0 1-2 1, Isabel Kenkel 0 2-4 2, Ava Seney 1 5-5 7, Aiden Gosselink 2 1-5 3, Lainie Eitel 0 0-0 0, Terriyah Carter 0 0-0 0, Ivy Kellogg 1 0-2 2. TOTALS 8 15-30 32.

MHS 2 5 9 10 — 26

GRINNELL 6 7 12 7 — 32

3-Point Goals–MHS 2 (Brummel 2), Grinnell 3 (Dana 3). Team Fouls–MHS 21, Grinnell 14. Fouled Out–Bowie, Long.