It was a night of improvements last night as the Bobcat basketball teams hosted the Mason City Riverhawks. Here’s KFJB’s David Braga with the report

The Bobcats were thoroughly outmatched in their opening matches against Mason City back in December, but last night showed promise. The girls battled hard, particularly in the second half. The cats struggled to find the basket early, trailing 23-9 at the half. They would stabilize after the break, going even with the Riverhawks, but still falling short, 44-30. Improving off their 30-point defeat, they couldn’t get over the hump as they fell for the 4th time in 5 games.

In the nightcap it was a defensive slugfest. Looking to snap a 5-game losing streak, the Cats held strong on the defensive end despite the scoring struggles, leading 18-14 at the half. The lead ballooned to as many as 13 early in the fourth, but the Riverhawks answered with a 9-0 run to cut it to 31-27 with 3 minutes left before a Drake Gersema three and Lamar Johnson layup put the Bobcats well in front for good. Marshalltown held on for the 40-27 win, their lowest points allowed this season.

The cats will look to continue the momentum on Thursday night when the Boys head to waterloo west to take on the Wahawks, while the girls are off until the 27th when they host Grinnell.

David Braga, KFJB News Reporter