Roughriders pull away from MHS girls, 62-23
DES MOINES — Once the dam broke, the Bobcats couldn’t plug it back up.
The Marshalltown girls’ basketball team was within striking distance for most of the first half until a strong surge by Des Moines Roosevelt helped the Roughriders pull away for a 62-23 victory in Friday’s Iowa Alliance Conference clash.
The Bobcats (5-8) trailed 9-6 after the opening quarter and were within 15-13 midway through the second period before Roosevelt (7-6) turned up the heat and melted turnover-prone Marshalltown.
The Roughriders closed the first half on a 13-1 run to take a 28-14 lead into the intermission, and MHS never mounted a threat after that.
“We held strong for the first 14:30 of the game, but the last 90 seconds of the first half wound up being the turning point,” said MHS head coach Brian Murphy.
Marshalltown was limited to single-digit scoring in each quarter of the contest.
Frankie Long started strong for the Bobcats, scoring all six first-quarter points before foul trouble interrupted her game. She finished with a team-high eight points, but MHS couldn’t get her the ball as the game progressed.
Marshalltown made 27 turnovers as Roosevelt ran away with the win.
“Frankie picked up her third foul and had to sit the final two minutes (of the second quarter),” Murphy said. “That, combined with some physical perimeter play, led to a flurry of turnovers to end the half and we would up down 14 instead of keeping it under 10.”
Kinsley Bowie, Millie Heitmann and Jorja Janssen contributed four points apiece for MHS, and Morgan Hilderbrand sank a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. Heitmann led the way with 13 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots, and Ellie Hughes had eight boards.
“Overall I was pleased with much of what we did on offense,” Murphy said. “We were able to get into our sets against pressure and generated far better looks than we’ve had in the last few games.
“We are capable of being a solid offensive team when we take care of the ball, but we can’t allow ourselves to lose focus even as fatigue sets in.”
Keke Walker led Roosevelt with 15 points, Kenna Ledinsky finished with 14, Malaina Hackley had 12 and Breahna Millikan added 10.
Marshalltown hosts Mason City on Tuesday night in Alliance North Division action.
Des Moines Roosevelt 62, Marshalltown 23
MARSHALLTOWN (5-8) — Kinsley Bowie 2 0-0 4, Millie Heitmann 2 0-0 4, Jorja Janssen 0 4-10 4, Ellie Hughes 0 0-0 0, Frankie Long 4 0-6 8, Niah Lott 0 0-0 0, Morgan Hilderbrand 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 9 4-16 23.
DM ROOSEVELT (7-6) — Breahna Millikan 4 0-2 10, Kenna Ledinsky 7 0-2 14, Keke Walker 6 2-2 15, Olivia Bailey 0 0-2 0, JaLeah Lee 1 0-0 2, Hoda Mohamed 0 0-0 0, Savannah Kual 0 0-0 0, Malaina Hackley 4 4-4 12, Goamar Bilim 4 1-4 9, Judy Bokhary 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 26 7-16 63.
MHS 6 8 4 5 — 23
ROOSEVELT 9 19 17 17 — 63
3-Point Goals–MHS 1 (Hilderbrand), DMR 3 (Millikan 2, Walker). Team Fouls–MHS 12, DMR 13. Fouled Out–Hughes.