Foul trouble dooms Hounds in Hall of Pride scrimmage

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BY CHUCK VANDENBERG
PCC EDITOR

WEST BURLINGTON - You could feel the energy of this year's Fort Madison boy's basketball team from the tip of Monday's Hall of Pride Scrimmage at West Burlington.

But the Bloodhounds may have run themselves out of a non-recorded game after committing four personal fouls before getting on the board in a 68-60 loss to West Burlington on the road.

Head coach Ryan Wilson said, obviously the Hounds want to win everytime they hit the floor, but Monday was more about getting to know who they are in a full, live game.

"Tonight's all about us and getting better and realizing what we have and what we're going to be working with over the next three or four months of the season," he said.

Fort Madison junior Jake Eaves looks for a passing lane as West Burlington's Max Slater (55) and Kendall Baker (11) cut off the offense. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

"Yeah, you want to win, but let's be honest, at the end of the day we're still 0-0. All 14 guys, and all our staff - everyone was engaged. Our kids feed off that energy and excitement."

The Falcons opened a quick 12-4 advantage behind Marvion Jackson's five points, but Fort Madison would settle in off a 6-1 run to end the first quarter when Parker Denning sank a couple free throws after getting fouled driving from the right baseline.

West Burlington's Cayson Shipp buried back-to-back threes to give West Burlington a 21-15 lead and Jackson stepped outside the 3-point arc again and hit the third long-ball in a row for the Falcons to stretch the lead to 24-17.

Sophomore Dayton Davis, who got two quick fouls in the opening minutes of the first quarter, brought the Hounds to within 6 when he completed a three-point play with 4:45 left in the half.

But the Hounds' shooting went cold as they hit on just three of the next nine field goal attempts and converted just 4 of 8 from the free throw line the rest of the way through the first half as West Burlington stretched the lead to nine.

Denning would score again with about 50 seconds left in the half and then Fort Madison capitalized on a Falcon turnover and sophomore Miles Dear buried a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one at 32-31. West Burlington's Darian Johnson would score with two seconds left for a 34-31 halftime lead.

Out of the break, Jackson, who finished with a game-high 23, converted, but the Hounds' Davis, Jayden Fedler, and Dear all scored to give Fort Madison its first lead 38-36. But the Falcons' Colton Sherwood would answer with a floater in the lane to tie it up at 38.

The two teams would go back and forth with ties at 40 and 45 with Fort Madison settling into the fourth quarter with a 48-45 lead. West Burlington would then go on a 14-2 run to hold a 59-50 lead after Jackson converted inside on a floater that sent him to the floor.

The Hounds wouldn't recover from the run despite a couple three-pointers from Dear and Jake Eaves in the final minute.

Wilson said foul trouble and poor defense in the half-court put the Hounds in a bad spot in the second half.

"Defensively, we just gotta get better defending the ball off the dribble. Plain and simple," he said.

"We had a little bit of jitters and missed a lot of shots and free throws. At one point I think we were 4 of 15 from the line in the first half. We just missed a lot and in an 8-point loss that's big."

Wilson said Julian Navarro had a nice game for the Hounds and, despite hitting two three-balls in the second half, didn't get enough floor time in the second half.

"He hits 'em in practice. He stepped up tonight and hit three big shots. It fell on me because I didn't get him back in after a substitution, but everyone that played tonight is capable of knocking some shots down and doing different things for us."

The Hounds are off for the Thanksgiving break and start regular season play on Tuesday night in Ottumwa.

basketball, boys, fort madison, Hall of Pride, Pen City Current, sports, West Burlington

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