MASON CITY — The junior combination of quarterback Jacob Hayes and wide receiver Kyle Smith connected 13 times for the run-first Marshalltown High School football team in the fall.

Smith’s Hail Mary pass to Hayes was a well-timed role reversal on Monday night.

With time winding down in the third quarter of Monday’s Class 4A Substate 4 first-round basketball game, Smith spun and sent an over-the-head pass toward his bench. Hayes caught it and released a 3-pointer before the buzzer that barely grazed the net, lifting the Bobcats to a double-digit lead.

Marshalltown needed every bit of it by the time Mason City made its comeback.

The Bobcats advanced through the opening round of substate play for the first time since 2022 by holding off the Riverhawks, 62-59.

Marshalltown (7-14) got four double-digit scorers for the first time all season to advance to Friday’s 7 p.m. substate final against No. 2 Linn-Mar in Marion. The Lions (19-2) host the Bobcats for the two schools’ first meeting since a 2008 state tournament quarterfinal that went to Linn-Mar in overtime.

“I know our wins aren’t there but we’re making progress,” said MHS head coach Michael Appel. “It’s steps in the right direction and it’s a fun team to coach.”

LaMar Johnson scored a career-high 19 points to lead Marshalltown’s four scorers, all of whom reached double figures. Drake Gersema got 16 points, Smith scored 15 and Hayes provided 12.

Smith led with six rebounds and Johnson had five. Gersema also had six assists and Smith three as the Bobcats shared the ball all game long.

“We worked on a lot of different looks,” Appel said. “We moved some freshmen up to give us more guys to give us different looks as far as facing zones and stuff like that and that’s helped us huge.”

The 3-pointer to beat the third-quarter horn stood out, but none of Hayes’ points were as pivotal as his last two.

Hayes made a pair of free throws with 6.5 seconds left after Mason City (9-13) had whittled the Bobcats’ 14-point lead down to just one, 60-9, with 7.1 seconds left. Marcele Whitner scored eight of his team-leading 18 points in the fourth quarter to help the Riverhawks make a game out of what was quickly turning into a runaway.

After Hayes hit the momentous trey to end the third, Smith opened the fourth quarter scoring with a triple of his own. Johnson converted a short jumper with 6:25 left to make it a 54-40 Bobcat advantage.

Mason City refused to relent, scoring the game’s next 11 points to pull within three, 54-51.

The Bobcats stretched their lead back out to seven, 60-53, but a three-point play by Jameer Falls and a Whitner trifecta compounded MHS turnovers at the worst times.

Hayes, without a free-throw attempt since Marshalltown’s regular-season finale on Feb. 11, cashed in both shots from the charity stripe.

“I really thought he was going to make them for some reason,” Appel said of Hayes. “I just did. I could tell he was locked in all game. He hit some big shots for us. He didn’t get to play a ton because of foul trouble, but he had that look in his eyes like he was ready and he was gonna knock those down so I had full confidence in him and just happy he was able to do it.”

Falls got off a contested 3-point attempt that fell short, and time expired on the Riverhawks’ season.

“I’m incredibly proud of our guys,” Appel said. “I told them in the locker room this was probably the most nervous I’ve been for a game in a long time and it’s partly because I just didn’t want the season to end, we’ve just been having so much fun with these guys.”

The two Iowa Alliance Conference foes split the regular-season series, each winning on their own home court before Monday’s upheaval.

“I’m really proud of our guys’ effort tonight, you could tell they really wanted it and they laid it all on the floor,” Appel said. “Four guys played the whole game, so just their effort and what they did was awesome.”

Marshalltown 62, Mason City 59

MARSHALLTOWN (7-14) — Jamison Niehouse 0 0-0 0, Drake Gersema 7 1-2 16, Kyle Smith 5 1-2 15, LaMar Johnson 7 5-7 19, Jacob Hayes 4 2-2 12, Adam Boone 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 23 9-13 62.

MASON CITY (9-13) — Drew Hobart 2 0-0 6, Jameer Falls 5 5-7 16, Marcele Whitner 6 3-3 18, Andrew Novak 0 0-0 0, Ty Sanchez-Evans 2 2-2 6, Owen Rickers 1 0-0 3, Drayden Witt 4 0-0 8, Nathan Berkley 0 0-0 0, DeAndre Judon 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 21 10-12 59.

MHS 17 16 16 13 — 62

MASON CITY 12 17 9 21 — 59

3-Point Goals–MHS 7 (Smith 4, Hayes 2, Gersema), Mason City 7 (Whitner 3, Hobart 2, Falls, Rickers). Team Fouls–MHS 13, Mason City 17. Fouled Out–Hobart.