Sluggish start dooms Lady Hounds to 0-4

BY CHUCK VANDENBERG

PCC EDITOR

KEOKUK - Despite 12 points from junior Anna Kester, the Fort Madison girls basketball team couldn't recover from a dismal start and lost on the road Friday to Keokuk 51-28.

The loss sends Fort Madison to 0-4 for the second year in a row.

Keokuk's MacKenzie Northup, who transferred to Keokuk High School from Central Lee over the summer, led all scorers with 20 points on the night.

The Hounds couldn't get things going out of the gate as the Lady Chiefs raced to a 19-3 first quarter lead behind 11 points from Northup. The Hounds would get a free-throw from senior Jassmine Bass and a bucket inside after Sara Bernhardt put her own miss back in inside for an 8-3 Chiefs lead.

Northup and Keliegh Hall would take turns banging in long shots against the Hounds through the rest of the period as the Hounds just shot 10% in the period going 1 of 10.

Fort Madison's Jassmine Bass (21) and Maddie Rashid tries to block a shot from Keokuk's Keleigh Hall (20) in Friday's matchup in Keokuk. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

Fort Madison would start to get a little more scoring consistency in the second period as Bernhardt got a couple of buckets working inside and Kester would score off a layup in transition, but not until Keokuk had stretched the lead to 32-9. Bernhardt's first bucket in the period ended a scoring drought that lasted almost 10 minutes.

The Hounds responded with a tighter defense on Northup out of the break and held her scoreless in the third period as the Lady Hounds outscored Keokuk 12-6.

Head Coach Todd McGhghy put his girls in a full-court press to pressure the ball coming up the floor and was rewarded with four quick points from Bass, two at the line and one in transition. Fort Madison's shooting woes would continue however as the Hounds missed their next six shots, including two from the free throw line, before sophomore Maddie Rashid converted a bucket to make it 36-15 Keokuk.

Keokuk's Abby Arrowood hit inside with 2:07 left but then the Chiefs got foul happy sending Kester to the line on the Bloodhounds next three trips down the floor. Kester made six-of-six freethrows in the stretch to cut the Chiefs' lead to 38-21 at the end of the third quarter.

Kester would go 6-of-8 from the line on the night.

Bass opened the fourth quarter with a nifty move inside scoring with her left hand on a drive in the lane to close the gap to 15, but Northup would counter with a 3-ball on the next trip down the floor. She would score again as part of a 5-1 run moving through the Hounds perimeter defense to got off a short jumper.

Kester would then connect on a crazy 3-pointer from just off the left baseline that somehow caught glass and went in, a shot that McGhghy said was "barely geometrically possible". The 3-ball pulled the Hounds to within 16 with about 3:15 left in the game. Junior Jillian Wiseman would score the only other point for Fort Madison on the front end of a one-and-one, while about four Lady Chiefs would convert buckets down the stretch to ice the game.

McGhghy said the offense is still coming along.

"The shooting is what it is. We know that's not who we are and we have to find creative ways to get the ball inside," he said. "I would say I think we had three or four shots that were questionable so our shot selection is fine and the girls know they have the green light. It's just where we're at right now."

He said it's something the coaching staff will continue to work on, but solid defense is where the girls will get the most reward.

"We'll continue to work on our stuff, but you get very little return during the season on shooting drills. We'll continue to work at it and get better and we'll knock a few more down."

McGhghy said the progress of the girls game is about what he'd expected at this point of the season.

"Where were at right now is that we have a lot of stuff we can do, but if I yell it out in the middle of the game, it's gonna be a mess. Until I get a dead ball and I say "everybody got it?" right now it's just play ball," he said. "I would never really say I'm happy, but I'll take it. And we got a stretch coming up where we can win some of those game."

The Lady Hounds are off until Dec. 7, when they travel to Davis County.

FMHS sophomore Maddie Rashid looks for a shooting lane, as Keokuk's MacKenzie Northup closes in Friday in first half action. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

Fort Madison senior Jassmine Bass gets off a shot in front of Keleigh Hall (20) in the paint in the early going of Friday's loss to Keokuk. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC