Marshalltown’s Jorja Janssen (23) jogs off the court as South Tama’s Kayla Heck, back left, Sophie Shuckahosee (20) and Takia Rosenberger celebrate the Trojans’ 37-35 win over the Bobcats in last Tuesday’s season opening basketball game in Tama. Heck scored a game-high 14 points for STC. Photo by Ross Thede.

Wins have been hard to come by for both programs, but only one took advantage of the opportunity that presented itself in their season-opening girls’ basketball game on Tuesday, Nov. 22, in Tama.

Kayla Heck scored all eight of South Tama’s fourth-quarter points before fouling out to help the hometown Trojans knock off Marshalltown 37-35 in a nail-biter that went right down to the bitter end.

Heck finished with a game-high 14 points despite sitting out the final 1 minute and 13 seconds, but her STC teammates helped to deliver the season-opening victory.

“It means a lot because previous years, we haven’t really been that up, but first game coming out strong,

I’m really proud of my team tonight. It was very nerve-racking, [and] crazy, but it was awesome. I’m just really proud of everybody.”

STC defenders Takia Rosenberger (14) and Janette Cervantes (4) battle with Marshalltown’s Kinsley Bowie during the first half of last Tuesday’s season opening basketball game in Tama. Photo by Ross Thede.

South Tama (1-0) led by as many as nine points in the first half, in which the two teams combined for 25 turnovers and 32 personal fouls. The Trojans took a 22-20 lead into the half-time break after the visiting Bobcats (0-1) whittled away at the nearly double-digit deficit over the final three minutes of the second quarter.

STC’s 19-10 lead dwindled quickly, and Marshalltown sophomore Allie Hughes banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the Bobcats’ margin to two heading to halftime, 22-20.

Heck picked up her fourth foul midway through the third quarter, but she made an instant impact when she returned to the court in the final period. Sara Huffman rattled home a 3-pointer to get Marshalltown back to even, 29-29, for the first time since the three-minute mark of the first quarter, and the two teams went tied into the final frame.

The Bobcats appeared to gain control of the game with the first five points of the fourth period, too, but Heck had other ideas. She knocked down three straight mid-range jump shots and added a layup off a pass from Zeara Kapayou that capped an 8-0 run for the Trojans and gave South Tama a 37-34 lead with 1:18 left to play.

Marshalltown appeared to have snapped the dry spell when Heck fouled out, sending Anistyn Borsch to the free-throw line. Borsch’s first attempt bounced high off the iron and into the net, but the referee had given her the ball prematurely because Heck hadn’t been taken out of the game yet. Instead, Borsch missed both free throws and STC got the ball back with its three-point lead.

South Tama senior Arro Lyons (40) looks to shoot over Marshalltown defender Jorja Janssen (23) during the first half of their season-opening basketball game last Tuesday in Tama. Lyons finished with seven points, 10 rebounds and five steals for the Trojans. Photo by Ross Thede.

The Trojans turned the ball over, however, and MHS freshman Sydney Kapayou was fouled with one minute to go. Her free-throw tries were off-target as well, but the Bobcats created another STC miscue and regained possession with 33.3 seconds left.

Rasch got back to the line with 19 seconds showing and made the first of two, getting MHS within 37-35. Bobcat freshman Millie Heitmann came up with a steal at the other end of the court, but her outlet pass to Kapayou sailed too high, preventing the opportunity for a game-tying layup.

Marshalltown, which had 17 fouls in the first half, had just three team fouls when South Tama inbounded the ball under the MHS basket with 6.3 seconds left. MHS couldn’t get the steal or enough fouls to force free throws, and the Trojans escaped with a celebrated victory.

South Tama won just one game last season and in 2019-20, and the Trojans were winless in 2020-21. Marshalltown has won at least one but no more than three games in each of the last seven seasons, making the missed chance a bit of a heartbreaker.

“We showed about every aspect of our team in this game,” said MHS head coach Brian Murphy. “Obviously, there were many times we showed our youth and inexperience … but then I also thought we showed a lot of promise and potential. We’ve got a lot of weapons and tools. We’ve just got to keep honing them in and figure out how we can put everybody in the best position to succeed.”

Huffman finished with a team-leading 11 points as well as four steals. Sydney Kapayou added eight points and a team-high nine rebounds, while Jorja Janssen pulled down seven rebounds. Hughes had five points, while Kinsley Bowie, Borsch, and Heitmann had three points each. Amaya Moore added two points before fouling out, and Janssen added a free throw.

The Bobcats finished 4-of-24 from the free-throw line and committed 25 turnovers. South Tama was 11-for-26 at the charity stripe and finished with 29 turnovers.

It was every bit the season-opening basketball team between two less successful squads, but it was as competitive of a game as either has played in recent history.

In addition to Heck’s 14 points, STC got six from Sophie Shuckahosee and five from both Arro Lyons and Zeara Kapayou. Janette Cervantes pitched in with three points, while Elaina Ingawanup and Paige Croskey added two points apiece.

Lyons had team-highs of 10 rebounds and five steals off the bench, and Heck finished with seven boards. Shuckahosee added four of the Trojans’ 22 steals.

The Trojans played road games on Nov. 28 at Grinnell and Nov. 29 at Saydel.