Second-ranked Linn-Mar wore away at the Bobcats’ defenses, out-matching them at virtually every position, but the effort continued until time ran out on Marshalltown in an 83-48 defeat in a Class 4A Substate 4 semifinal at Linn-Mar High School.

Linn-Mar improved to 20-2 overall behind 26 points from Davis Kern, and will play Dowling Catholic back in Marion in Tuesday’s substate final. Marshalltown posts a 7-15 final record, led on Friday night by junior Kyle Smith with 20 points and senior LaMar Johnson with 13.

“I’m proud of our guys and the character they play with,” MHS head coach Michael Appel said. “They played extremely hard tonight and I’m proud of how they respected the game this season and played the right way.”

The Bobcats had something going their way in the first quarter, spotting the Lions the first seven points but using a couple Smith 3-pointers to get within 12-8 after the first quarter as MHS packed it in on the 6-foot-9 Kern, the South Dakota State commit who become Linn-Mar’s all-time leading scorer on Friday.

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - Marshalltown head coach Michael Appel directs his team from the sideline during Friday’s Class 4A Substate 4 semifinal boys basketball game against Linn-Mar in Marion.

“You’ve got to take your chances somewhere and we identified [Linn-Mar’s Eric Wright] and [Tyler Hilton] as the guys we’d leave open and hope they miss shots,” Appel said. “We had to keep the ball out of [Kern’s] hands as much as we can and just rely on those other guys to beat us.”

The defensive game plan was paying off early, motivating the Bobcats and a generous crowd of supporters making the trip east.

“We knew there was a chance we could compete,” Johnson said, “but once I saw it with my own eyes, I got really excited.”

MHS got solid looks offensively, too, but not enough went in the bottom of the net.

That got the pendulum swinging to the Lions, converting their offensive opportunities and flustering the Bobcats with a mixture of speed and height that generated turnovers for quick buckets.

Linn-Mar outscored Marshalltown 25-8 in the second quarter, thundering to a 37-16 halftime lead.

“We let them get out in transition, gave them a lot of second-chance points,” Appel said. “And that run made it tough to come back. … We told the guys at halftime to just keep doing what we were doing, keep playing hard, and just take better care of the ball.”

The Lions were rolling, though, limiting Marshalltown to sporadic baskets in the second half. Marshalltown’s last haymaker off the ropes was a 7-2 start to the fourth quarter that included baskets from Jamison Niehouse, Johnson and a Smith 3-pointer to get to 59-37, and a 10-2 Linn-Mar run in response was more than enough to put the Bobcats on ice.

“The defense broke down a bit and turnovers kinda killed us,” Johnson said. “We wanted to keep going hard all game though, that was the main thing that kept us going.”

Johnson is one of five seniors on this year’s Bobcat squad along with Adam Boone, Dominyc Clure, Arion Hancock and Will Swartz.

“I’m grateful for our seniors,” Appel said. “I look forward to seeing their success after high school and in other sports the rest of this year, they’re just really great young men, and I’m proud of their work in this program.”

Johnson said he enjoyed having the underclassmen joining Bobcat practices in recent weeks to help with scouting.

“They’ve been a huge help during practices giving us different looks and helping us figure out a better game plan,” Johnson said. “And seeing an experience like this, preparing them for this kind of atmosphere will prepare them for anything seeing us upperclassmen going up against a top-three team in the state.

“Our young guys are really good. They may not look the part yet, but they can play the play.”

The Bobcats’ 7-15 final record is only a couple wins off last season’s performance, which Appel reckons could’ve gone differently with a couple more breaks throughout the season.

“There were some games we felt like we should have won that we lost, but we really had some good wins and some exciting moments, too,” Appel said. “You take the good with the bad and it’s just the consistency of how we approach every day, how coachable the guys were and the fun we had as a group, we can build on that approach.”

It’s been a ride for Marshalltown’s seniors.

“I remember the first day I walked through the doors at summer camps and Appel was the first person I met,” Johnson said. “I was scared at first but he was really welcoming, it was like family. I loved it. This has meant everything.”

Linn-Mar 83, Marshalltown 48

MARSHALLTOWN (7-15) — Jamison Niehouse 1 0-0 2, Drake Gersema 3 2-2 8, Kyle Smith 7 1-2 20, LaMar Johnson 6 0-0 13, Jacob Hayes 1 2-2 5, Dominyc Clure 0 0-0 0, Adam Boone 0 0-0 0, Will Swartz 0 0-0 0, Arion Hancock 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18 5-6 48.

LINN-MAR (20-2) — Payson Nietert 5 0-0 12, Eric Wright 4 2-2 11, Tyler Hilton 6 6-6 18, Mason Matson 1 2-4 4, Davis Kern 9 7-8 26, Garrett Bauermeister 1 0-0 3, Max Robertson 0 0-0 0, Karson Rains 1 0-0 2, Brody Oberbroeckling 1 0-0 2, Maclain Felber 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 30 17-20 83.

MHS 8 8 14 18 — 48

LINN-MAR 12 25 20 26 — 83

3-Point Goals–MHS 7 (Smith 5, Johnson, Hayes), Linn-Mar 6 (Nietert 2, Wright, Kern, Bauermeister, Poore). Team Fouls–MHS 16, Linn-Mar 5. Fouled Out–none. Technical Foul–Kern.