The Marshalltown girls’ basketball team saw a 23-point lead get sheared down to six. That’s when head coach Brian Murphy said the veteran play of his seniors stood out more than normal.

Jorja Janssen scored a team-leading 11 points and the Bobcats beat back a determined Des Moines Lincoln squad for a 42-35 victory in Tuesday’s Iowa Alliance Conference contest on Senior Night inside the Roundhouse.

Kinsley Bowie contributed nine points, four assists and three steals, and Millie Heitmann finished with three points, four steals and four blocked shots as the Bobcats (11-9) ran their series streak to five straight wins over the Railsplitters (6-13).

“I think I’d be hard-pressed to find a senior class that has had the impact that this group has had,” Murphy said. “From a morale, from a leadership standpoint, it’s been phenomenal. We’re just now starting to add up where they fall in history and they’re all three winding up top-15, top-10 in some cases, and scattered across the board.

“That’s where my brain goes back to is — whether it’s Millie blocking a whole bunch of shots down at one end, whether it’s Kinsley knocking down big shots, Jorja is always coming up with steals — we need big plays and those three typically deliver, and we needed them tonight.”

The Bobcats’ three seniors helped their team take that 23-point lead on the Railsplitters. Bowie made a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter as Marshalltown seniors scored the game’s first nine points to take a 10-2 at the break.

After a Lincoln basket to open the second period, the Bobcats scored the next 15 points in all shapes and sizes. Junior guard Amairra Johnson knocked down a jumper, junior Frankie Long put back an offensive rebound, and junior Kendall Brummel sank a 3-pointer. Janssen converted a steal into a layup and put back a teammate’s missed layup in transition — twice — as MHS gained a 32-9 lead.

One final bucket before the half from Lincoln’s leading scorer Jumi Kayode made it a 21-point margin, and the Rails were far from finished.

Lincoln outscored the Bobcats 8-2 in the third quarter to climb back to within 15, 34-19, and the margin whittled all the way down to six, 38-32, before Long’s three-point play with 1:47 left stemmed Lincoln’s momentum.

“I think ultimately you see what happens when we take the foot off the gas pedal a little bit,” Murphy said. “One of the things that challenged us is when the ball’s going through the bucket, especially steals in transition, it makes half court feel easier. It didn’t feel like we ever matched our energy from that first half where we were feeding off that full-court press and that energy.”

Marshalltown forced 24 turnovers in all, but the Rails became better at breaking the Bobcats’ press in the second half and started scoring against it. MHS weathered the storm well enough to avert real danger, but the game got undeniably tense down the stretch.

“Certainly it is unfortunate, but it’s also one of those games where at the end of the day it’s a win and that’s what you walk away with,” Murphy said.

Long finished with 10 points, piled up 20 rebounds and blocked three shots, while Brummel scored five points and Johnson had four points and eight steals.

Kayode led the Rails with 13 points and Monique Stonehocker had seven more in the loss.

Marshalltown goes on the road for the final time this regular season with Friday’s trip to Des Moines East, and the Bobcats close out the schedule at home next Monday against Des Moines North.

Marshalltown 42, Des Moines Lincoln 35

DM LINCOLN (6-13) — Leiah Ochoa 1 0-0 3, Monique Stonehocker 2 3-4 7, Ella Foust 1 2-2 4, Jumi Kayode 6 1-2 13, Korelyn Brown 2 0-1 4, Grace Holm 0 0-0 0, Brielle O’Donnell 0 0-0 0, Wala Gabir 2 0-0 4. TOTALS 14 6-9 35.

MARSHALLTOWN (11-9) — Amairra Johnson 1 2-2 4, Kinsley Bowie 3 1-2 9, Millie Heitmann 1 1-4 3, Jorja Janssen 5 0-0 11, Frankie Long 2 6-10 10, Kendall Brummel 1 2-2 5, Keira Halsted 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 13 12-20 42.

DM LINCOLN 2 9 8 16 — 35

MHS 10 22 2 8 — 42

3-Point Goals–DM Lincoln 1 (Ochoa), MHS 4 (Bowie 2, Brummel, Janssen). Team Fouls–DM Lincoln 19, MHS 9. Fouled Out–none.