Fort Madison boys rally in 3rd to advance to semis

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7th-ranked Bloodhounds overcome shaky start to advance

BY CHUCK VANDENBERG
PCC EDITOR

FORT MADISON - It wasn't quite what the 7th-ranked Bloodhounds wanted to do with Oskaloosa in the opening round of Class 3A boys basketball post season play.

But a second half surge and some timely buckets from senior Reiburn Turnbull helped the Hounds roll to a 70-60 Substate 5 quarterfinal win over the Indians (6-15).

The Bloodhounds will tangle with Clear Creek-Amana (15-7) in the semifinals Thursday night in Fort Madison. The winner will advance to the substate final against the winner of Marion/Mt. Pleasant in the top half of the bracket. That game will be played in Muscatine next Monday at 7 p.m. with the winner punching a ticket to the state tournament.

FMHS Senior Phillip Goldie works inside against Oskaloosa's Jacob Stek in the 3rd quarter Monday night in Fort Madison. The Hounds won 70-60 to advance to the substate finals Thursday night in Fort Madison. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

The first 12 minutes of the game had the large Bloodhound crowd a bit uneasy as Oskaloosa raced out to a 14-6 first quarter lead. Fort Madison, who's been battling illnesses and injuries for the past two weeks, shot a queasy 3-of-11 from the field in the first period.

Indian guard Keaton Flaherty scored 10 of Oskaloosa's first 14 and was helping keep the Bloodhounds' press on its heels with some solid ball handling.

Fort Madison slipped behind 13 when Flaherty scored on his second 3-ball of the night from the right wing. Flaherty would rack up 19 in the first half.

Head Coach Ryan Wilson would call a full time out after Flaherty's 3-pointer with the Bloodhounds down 21-8. The time out seemed to stop Osky's run, but Fort Madison struggled to gain ground quickly.

Seniors Dayton Davis and Tate Johnson both scored inside in a small 4-0 run with 3:17 left in the half. Flaherty would score again inside. Matt Hopper would miss on a short jumper and Oskaloosa would grab the board, but Johnson would get a steal and dish over to Davis who scored to cut the lead to nine.

David Nelson would score in transition, sliding through the Hounds' man press, and then Fort Madison would miss three straight from the field before Davis scored again off a Johnson assist to again cut the lead to nine 27-16.

The Hound's Reiburn Turnbull gets a steal from behind as Oskaloosa's David Nelson (30) bring the ball across the timeline in the second half. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

The Hounds took advantage of three personal fouls in the last 30 seconds and cut the lead to eight at 29-21 despite a circus shot by the Indians' Waylon Bolibaugh, who threw up a shot as he fell to the floor off a rebound.

Turnbull's half court shot at the buzzer just missed clipping the front of the rim.

The conversation at halftime centered around this not being the last game for the senior-laden squad.

"We came out a little rough but by the time half time came around, we knew we weren't going to lose on our home court and would get the win," Turnbull, who finished with 16, said after the game.

Davis said things weren't happening the way the Hounds had drawn them up in the first quarter.

Fort Madison's Dayton Davis puts up a jump shot over a couple Oskaloosa defenders Monday night in Fort Madison. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

"In the beginning, we were hoping to come out strong, and it didn't end up happening that way. I wasn't finishing and we weren't running our things," Davis said. "But at the half we knew we weren't going to fold. We didn't want this to be our last time playing. We talked about coming back and it didn't matter how much we were down."

Davis came alive offensively and the Hounds' top perimeter defender, Landes Williams, put the clamps on Flaherty, holding him to just nine points in the second half and five of those were in the final minute.

Fort Madison went to a spread five-out offense and opened up some lanes to drive off the dribble, while giving Davis room to work in the lane.

Turnbull and Davis scored the Hounds' first 10 points of the second half and Turnbull's scoop on a drive from the left side cut the lead to five at 36-31. Osky's Jacob Stek buried a 3-pointer from the right baseline to make it 39-31, but Flaherty was whistled for a technical foul for something said after the bucket.

Miles Dear hit the front end of the freebies. Bolibaugh would score at the other end for a 41-32 lead, but Fort Madison would score four unanswered to again cut the lead to five on a floater in the lane from Dear.

The Hounds would get a stop at the other end and Davis would score in the paint and get fouled on Fort Madison's next possession. He would convert the 3-point play and the Hounds would be within two at 41-39.

Dear would seal the inbound pass but would miss the layup that would have tied the game. Fort Madison's defense again came up big in the next possession. Turnbull would get a steal and would get fouled. He converted the freethrows for the first tie of the game at 41.

Fort Madison would get a stop and then Dear and Turnbull would both miss at the other end and the Indians would get the rebound, but Davis would get another steal and miss the layup.

Nelson would score as Osky slipped through the Hounds' press for an easy bucket, but Turnbull would score again inside to knot it up at 43.

Dayton Davis would then score nine of the the game's next 14 points, including the Hounds' only 3-ball of the night, with 6:08 left in the game to give the Hounds a six-point lead at 51-45.

It was the lowest output of 3-pointers on the season for the Hounds.

"If you would have told me we would win with one 3-pointer and I would've been the one to make it, I wouldn't have believed you," Davis laughed after the game.

Fort Madison would pull away from that point extending their lead to as many as 12 on a Dear steal and layup in transition.

Flaherty would try to get the Indians back in it almost single handedly with a two-handed stuff and a 3-ball in the final minute to cut the lead to eight at 69-60, but Davis would score again with :30 left and the Hounds would be able to run out the clock for the win.

Wilson said the Hounds had to change the way they were playing in the first half.

WILSON

"We had to make them play our style of basketball. We had to stop gambling and giving them free stuff. We just have to be better disciplined and better defensively in those situations," Wilson said.

Wilson said Turnbull's game was timely in the Hounds' turnaround.

"It's weird to watch him play. He's crafty and has a way to get to the basket and finish. He was really doing the little things and finding little angles today. He just has a knack for scoring and it's been an adjustment for him to realize that we need him to go to the basket," Wilson said.

But Wilson said the defensive play of Johnson and Williams was a key in the second half.

"Tate and Landes - those are the guys who don't score a lot but do a lot. Landes gets all the credit for holding (Flaherty) to nine points in the second half. Every team needs players like Landes and Tate," Wilson said.

Wilson credited Oskaloosa for coming with the mindset of upsetting the Hounds.

"We weren't ourselves early on. We were the nail and they were the hammer," he said.

"Hats off to them and how they came out, but our guys responded and didn't just go away."

Turnbull said the Hounds were in the opposite position last year trying to upset the No. 2 seed. This year the Hounds were the No. 2 seed.

"Last year we were the seventh seed playing the two seed, so we knew how it was to come into this game. We know what it's like to play as the seventh seed and want to upset the No. 2 seed like we wanted to last year," he said.

Davis finished with 28 points on the night. Miles Dear had 18, Tate Johnson finished with six points, and Phillip Goldie had a couple freethrows to go with Turnbull's 16. Flaherty tied Davis for game-high scoring honors with 28 for Oskaloosa.

Reiburn Turnbull (3) gets fouled by Oskaloosa's Waylon Bolibaugh (2) in the second half as the Hounds rallied past the Indians in Substate 5 quarterfinal action Monday night. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

athletics, basketball, bloodhounds, Dayton Davis, fort madison, Landes Williams, Oskaloosa, Pen City Current, quarterfinals, Reiburn Turnbull, Ryan Wilson, scores, substate, varsity, varsity basketball, varsity boys basketball

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