Sometimes the only way to learn the lessons is the hard way.

Millie Heitmann’s 30-foot 3-pointer at the end of regulation forced overtime, but the Marshalltown girls’ basketball team made too many mistakes to take advantage of the second chance it granted them in a heartbreaking 53-52 loss to Waterloo East in Tuesday’s Iowa Alliance Conference game at the Roundhouse.

“There were a lot of little things along the way that added up, and that’s what makes a game like that really frustrating,” said MHS head coach Brian Murphy.

The Bobcats (7-2, 2-1) trailed by as many as six, led by as much as four and found themselves down 47-42 with 31.8 seconds left in the game. A pair of missed layups and two more missed free throws might have been the end for MHS, but Morgan Hilderbrand’s second 3-pointer of the game got Marshalltown back to within two, 47-45, with 20 seconds still showing.

With 5.2 seconds left, Graysyn Downing got the first of two free throws to go down, but a miss on the second one left the door open for a miracle. Jorja Janssen rebounded the ball, heaved a long pass ahead to Heitmann, and her line drive hit the back of the rim and backboard at the same time, deadening the ball right into the net as the buzzer sounded.

“Millie knocked it down, but it would have been great to be in a position where all you need is a layup or maybe you have the lead,” Murphy said. “So it’s a hard learning lesson, but one that we definitely hope this early in the season we can take out of it.”

The blue-and-gold celebration kept rolling into overtime when Janssen knocked down a jumper to put the Bobcats on top, 50-48, for the first time since early in the third quarter, but Waterloo East (5-4, 2-1) kept applying the pressure.

The Trojans forced three turnovers in the four-minute overtime period and made enough plays to make the comeback. Ka’Jhira Mhoon’s 3-pointer with 25 seconds left made all of Marshalltown’s missed scoring opportunities hurt, and two free throws from Moon made it a three-point game, 53-50, with 8.6 seconds left.

The Bobcats’ inbounds pass was deflected up-court and MHS junior guard Amairra Johnson won the race to it, but her momentum carried her past the 3-point line and she drove to the basket for a layup instead of the three as time expired.

“Ultimately you cannot fault our girls for grit and hustle and just leaving it all on the floor,” Murphy said. “You could tell that everybody was gassed. They put as much as they physically could have into that game.”

Frankie Long scored a game-high 17 points to go with 11 rebounds and four blocked shots to lead the Bobcats in defeat. Janssen got eight points, eight boards and three steals, and Johnson finished with seven points. Hilderbrand had six points, Kendall Brummel and Heitmann had five, and Kinsley Bowie added four before fouling out with 31 seconds left in regulation.

Heitmann added 13 rebounds, eight assists, three steals and three blocked shots, but in the end it wasn’t quite enough to keep the Bobcats unbeaten in Iowa Alliance Conference play.

Downing and Mhoon finished with a team-leading 13 points apiece for Waterloo East, Kaelin Knipp had 12 points and Siyanna Cody added 11 for the Trojans.

“It’s bittersweet, but a lot of our teams historically probably would have folded earlier in the game,” said Murphy. “We wouldn’t have come back once they made that final run in the fourth. I don’t know that we claw back like we did, so there is a little natural exuberance from the opportunity that we had — twice — where we brought ourselves back and then had the lead in overtime.

“I think there’s a little bit of both pride in what we were able to do, but then also recognition that it’s a game we probably should have won once we took the lead in overtime.”

The Bobcats go out on the road Thursday for another conference contest at Ames.

Waterloo East 53, Marshalltown 52, OT

WATERLOO EAST (5-4, 2-1) — Graysyn Downing 4 4-7 13, Ka’Jhira Mhoon 4 4-6 13, Siyanna Cody 3 4-10 11, Alayna Henderson 0 0-4 0, Kaelin Knipp 5 2-4 12, Faith Sykes 0 1-2 1, Joselin Zarco-Cruz 0 0-0 0, Kalianna Sierra 1 0-0 3, Neomi Listo 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17 15-33 53.

MARSHALLTOWN (7-2, 2-1) — Amairra Johnson 3 1-4 7, Kinsley Bowie 2 0-0 4, Millie Heitmann 1 2-4 5, Jorja Janssen 4 0-0 8, Frankie Long 7 3-6 17, Kendall Brummel 2 0-0 5, Morgan Hilderbrand 1 2-4 5. TOTALS 21 6-14 52.

W’LOO EAST 13 10 15 10 5 — 53

MHS 11 14 10 13 4 — 52

3-Point Goals–Waterloo East 4 (Downing, Mhoon, Cody, Sierra), MHS 4 (Hilderbrand 2, Heitmann, Brummel). Team Fouls–Waterloo East 12, MHS 20. Fouled Out–Bowie.