Now the Bobcats have to avoid falling into it in the first place.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson ended an eight-game losing streak by pushing Marshalltown into an early deficit and withstanding the Bobcats’ second-half surge for a 59-54 victory inside the Roundhouse.

MHS (3-7) fell behind by nine after the opening quarter and trailed by 16 at the half, 35-19, before making a couple of mad dashes before running out of time at the finish line. The Bobcats suffered their third-straight loss and fifth in their last six games despite a pair of high-scoring nights by their leading scorers.

Senior guard Kyle Smith made a season-high seven 3-pointers on his way to 29 points and sophomore guard Drake Gersema got a season-high 17 points, but Marshalltown couldn’t limit Jefferson’s top guns in return.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - Marshalltown junior Jacob Hayes (30) shoots over Cedar Rapids Jefferson’s Dayten Guy (3) during the second half of Monday’s basketball game at the Roundhouse.

Khai Gatewood piled up 22 points, Dayten Guy had 11 and the J-Hawks (2-8) got their second win of the season having only trailed once in the game.

Marshalltown took a 4-0 lead before Jefferson rattled off the next eight points, never to fall behind again.

“Ultimately it comes down to before the game how we’re mentally preparing to be ready to play,” MHS head coach Michael Appel said. “I just didn’t think we were ready to play tonight for whatever reason. We started out flat.

“I’m proud of how we fought back, but ultimately it should never have gotten to that point.”

Trailing 16 at the half, Marshalltown fired out of the locker room to score the first 14 points of the third quarter. Smith made four 3-pointers in that initial run to cut it to 35-33, but Jefferson held on for a 39-35 lead heading into the final stanza.

The J-Hawks responded with a 13-4 run to open the fourth, putting the game out of reach.

Marshalltown’s scouting report identified the right targets, Appel said, but his defense didn’t prove up to the task. The Bobcats entered the game allowing just 54 points per game, which ranked 19th best in Class 4A, but the J-Hawks’ high-scoring guard court got to the rim too often for Marshalltown’s liking.

Gatewood had 13 points at the half and Guy added 10 more as the J-Hawks grabbed a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“This is a good lesson for us,” Appel said. “This was a team we’re capable of beating and we didn’t come out ready to play and they punched us in the mouth. And it was the guys we knew could beat us that really hurt us. That’s been a common trend this season — we haven’t done a great job of understanding our scout and what we need to take away very well and that’s hurt us a lot.”

Jayden Faulkner contributed 10 points off the bench as well for Jefferson, which shot 25 free throws to Marshalltown’s none.

Beyond Smith and Gersema, LaMar Johnson and Jacob Hayes contributed four points apiece. Hayes led the team with eight rebounds and Johnson had six.

The Bobcats eclipsed 50 points for the fourth time this season, but fell to 2-2 in those games. MHS ranks 46th out of 48 teams in 4A in scoring average (47.3).

“We’ve got to have role guys be able to chip in six or seven points, it all can’t come from two guys,” Appel said. “They’re getting opportunities to score, but we’ve got to capitalize and be confident and make those shots.”

The Bobcats are back at home Tuesday with an Iowa Alliance Conference game against Des Moines North.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson 59, Marshalltown 54

CR JEFFERSON (2-8) — Eric Smith 0 4-6 4, Khai Gatewood 8 5-8 22, Dayten Guy 4 1-3 11, Ian Eirp 0 3-4 3, Jonah Diekman 2 1-2 5, Jayden Faulkner 4 1-2 10, Zach Thielman 0 0-0 0, Ty Kuennen 0 0-0 0, Ben Patton 2 0-0 4. TOTALS 20 15-25 59.

MARSHALLTOWN (3-7) — Drake Gersema 8 0-0 17, Kyle Smith 11 0-0 29, LaMar Johnson 2 0-0 4, Jacob Hayes 2 0-0 4, Will Swartz 0 0-0, Jamison Niehouse 0 0-0 0, Zane Moore 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 23 0-0 54.

CR JEFF 18 17 4 20 — 59

MHS 9 10 16 19 — 54

3-Point Goals–CRJ 4 (Guy 2, Gatewood, Faulkner), MHS 8 (Smith 7, Gersema). Team Fouls–CRJ 9, MHS 16. Fouled Out–Johnson.