Hounds facing battles by 3

Posted

(Corrected to show Hounds record at 4-2)

By CHUCK VANDENBERG

PCC EDITOR

The Fort Madison Bloodhounds are living by the 3 this year, but they are facing tests of three as well.

Going into the 2nd phase of 3 games in one week, with one more such week to come, Head Coach Ryan Wilson says the tough schedule makes it tough to get practice time. But he says his team continues to improve despite the rigors of the schedule. This could be the toughest stretch of the season as the Hounds travel to No. 9 Danville (Class A) on Tuesday, then travel to Mt. Pleasant Friday and then John Wood Community College on Saturday for the Rumble on the River event.

"It's a concern and I've had some discussions with our AD about it, but knock on wood we've been able to stay healthy," Wilson said.

"It just doesn't give us a lot of practice time...not a lot of time to prepare for games when you're playing Tuesday, Friday and Saturday and taking Sunday off."

Fort Madison stands at 4-2 and comes off a nice win in Burlington at Notre Dame when they led from start to finish with junior Caleb Kresswell and senior CJ Richardson taking turns shooting 3 pointers and Treavor James-Kokjohn taking over in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

But Danville will bring a test of speed and shooting for the Hounds. Wilson said his team's inside game could be beneficial.

"I think our size could cause some issues, and our perimeter shooting has been good as well," Wilson said. "But they like to trap a lot and we're going to have be able to handle that."

The Bears' senior Kaleb Haeffner is averaging 19.8 points per game and fellow senior Kole Perkins is right at 17 points per outing. Haeffner leads the Southeast Iowa Superconference in 3-point field goals with 14 and is shooting at a 61% clip from beyond the arc.

The Hounds counter with Richardson at 12 points per game, Kresswell at 12 points per game and James-Kokjohn at 11 points per game.

"If Treavor can carry his 4th quarter momentum from Saturday, that will be tremendous help for us on Friday," Wilson said.

James-Kokjohn leads the Southeast conference in rebounds per game at 8 and total rebounds at 48 a full 12 ahead of Carson Crile of Fairfield.

Danville's contest starts at 6 p.m. with the junior varsity playing first.

 

athletics, basketball, bloodhounds, boys basketball, fmhs, sports, varsity

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