All that’s separating the Jefferson boys from a return trip to the boys state basketball tournament is a rematch with Cedar Falls next Tuesday night.

The J-Hawks disposed of Marshalltown, 64-58, Friday night in a Class 4A substate semifinal at Jefferson. They play No. 3 Cedar Falls on Tuesday in the substate final at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls.

Cedar Falls beat the J-Hawks, 64-49, at home on Jan. 31.  At 20-2, and fresh off a 55-39 win Friday night over Waterloo West, the Tigers have won 17 straight games since the holiday break.  One of their two early-season losses was to undefeated, top-ranked Iowa City West.  They’re averaging 70.2 points a game and allowing just 53.4.

To win will be a tall order indeed for unranked Jefferson, which has played in the last two state tournaments.

“We will have to consult the tea leaves,” J-Hawk Coach Stu Ordman said of the game plan needed to pull off the upset.

Jefferson (14-8) disposed of a pesky Marshalltown to earn the second chance with Cedar Falls.  Though just 7-16 for the season, the Bobcats play in the rough Des Moines-area Central Iowa Metro League.  And while they trailed from start-to-finish against Jefferson, they kept banging away the whole way and stayed close.

“We’ve played tough all year,” said Marshalltown Coach Scott Smith. “I thought our kids made some nice adjustments tonight.

“But give Jeff credit, they made some nice adjustments, too.”

Perhaps the most pivotal for the J-Hawks was going to junior sharpshooter Ky Kramer when the Bobcats focused on stopping all-around offensive threat Taylor Olson.  Kramer had a career-best 22 points with five 3-pointers, including three in the first quarter.

“Ky kept us in the game,” said Olson. “He hit some big shots for us.”

He only missed one long shot all night.

“I was getting some good screens set up for me,” Kramer said. “And the guys were doing a good job getting the ball to me.”

While Jefferson was relying on the three early to establish a lead, the Bobcats time after time drove down the lane for layups – or fouls.  Kramer said he counted one sequence in which Marshalltown ran the same exact play on six straight possessions.

“No question we made too many bad decisions on defense,” Ordman admitted.

The Bobcats hit nine of 13 free throws in the first half (while Jefferson shot none) to keep themselves within striking distance at 27-23.

When Tyler Kluver knocked down a 3-pointer early in the third quarter to bring Marshalltown to within two, it looked like a momentum change.

But Kramer soon popped in another trey, and speedster Creighton Robinson turned a nifty pickpocket into a layup to stem the tide.

Olson, who was held to 12 points, scored five of them in the closing minutes of the third quarter to extend the lead to 14.

“I thought that period when we cut the lead, and they quickly got it back up was the key to the game,” said the Bobcats' Scott. “Their defense stepped up when it had to.”

Although the J-Hawks stayed comfortably ahead the rest of the way, Marshalltown’s Austin Hauser kept it interesting by hitting three long-range threes in the final minute. One of them came at the buzzer.  The Bobcats’ leading scorer, he had been held in check up to that point.

“We did a good job on him tonight,” Olson said. “But we got caught by some others.”

MARSHALLTOWN (58): Austin Hauser 3 0-2 9, Clarke Mossman 3 4-5 10, Kyle Carnahan 3 10-14 16, Blake Gimbel 1 6-6 8, Tyler Kluver 4 4-6 13, Luke Britto 0 0-0 0, Luke Madsen 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 24-33 58.

JEFFERSON (64): Alec Saunders 3 0-1 6, Creighton Robinson 2 3-4 8, Ky Kramer 7 3-4 22, Tyler Hemphill 3 1-3 8, Taylor Olson 4 4-5 12, Jacob Olson 0 0-0 0, Austin Goodell 0 0-0 0, Justin Underwood 2 4-7 8. Totals 21 15-24 64.

Halftime – Jefferson 27, Marshalltown 23. 3-point goals – Marshalltown 4 (Hauser 3, Kluver), Jefferson 7 (Kramer 5, Robinson, Hemphill). Total fouls – Marshalltown 20, Jefferson 23. Fouled out – Carnahan, Kluver, Saunders.