Chiefs roll Bloodhounds out of post-season

KEOKUK — It had been 10 days since Keokuk and Fort Madison had last played each other in a boys basketball game.
There was a vast difference between that game and Monday’s Class 3A Substate 5 quarterfinal at Wright Fieldhouse, and it was clear in the final score.
Keokuk defeated the Bloodhounds 73-33, ending Fort Madison’s season and sending the Chiefs into Thursday’s semifinal at Center Point-Urbana (18-5).
Keokuk (18-4) won that February 13 game, the finale of the Southeast Conference regular season for both schools, on a night when Fort Madison’s Nolan Guzman and Chiefs center Jaxon Clark put on a show. Guzman scored a program-record 51 points, and Clark finished with 36.
Clark had 37 points in Monday’s game, but Guzman was held to 16.
The memory of that last game was clear for the Chiefs.
“They played great against us, and they took it right to us,” said Keokuk coach Anthony Potratz. “And we planned accordingly for that tonight.”
Fort Madison (5-17) was never able to repeat what it did the last time. The Bloodhounds were down 22-11 at the 5:48 mark of the second quarter, and they wouldn’t score again until Guzman’s basket with 5:25 left in the third quarter. That shot ended a 23-0 run for the Chiefs that left no doubt to this game’s outcome.
“Whether it was the spotlight, postseason basketball, the big stage, I’m not sure,” Fort Madison coach Ryan Wilson said.
Wilson said the game resembled the 80-38 loss the Bloodhounds had when they played at the Chiefs’ home on January 13.

“I think just maybe the stage, the atmosphere, the postseason got to us a little bit, but we just weren't ourselves,” Wilson said.
The Chiefs’ focus was slowing Guzman, who only had two first-half points.
“We had to really face-guard him and try to make it so he doesn't have the ball in his hand,” Potratz said. “And when he did have the ball in his hand, really make it difficult for him in the little handoff that they do near the wings. And just try to blitz it a little bit, make him be on his toes, make him not really know what to do. And I think we frustrated them. Our guards got really, really good pressure overall, and then just made it difficult for them to make some shots.”
“They didn't do anything different tonight (on Guzman) than what we've seen this year with anybody else,” Wilson said. “They made things difficult on Guzman, but other teams have done that. We just didn't finish well. You’re not going to win when scoring 11 points in a half. We had opportunities at the basket. We just didn't execute.”
Clark scored 11 of the Chiefs’ last 13 points in the first half, hitting three consecutive 3-pointers at the end of the half.
“When he’s hitting like that, good luck stopping him,” Potratz said. “I think he does everything well — he gets every rebound, he can shoot from anywhere. He got layups, shot threes. Defensively, he really covered the paint area really well this time around, compared to the last game. We made adjustments for him to be able to do that.”
“You’ve just got to get a body on him, whether it's on the perimeter or on the inside,” Wilson said. “We talked about how well he can shoot it, he hits threes at a 30% clip, you know. It doesn't matter how big or small you are, you've got to step up and guard him, and keep him from getting the ball in his hands or something like that.” 
Clark and Guzman were the only players to score in double figures.
It was the final game for Guzman, a senior who averaged 20.2 points per game this season.
“He’s a special kid,” WIlson said. “He played four years of varsity, scored more than 1,000 points, averaged double figures in his last three seasons. Nolan’s a kid that when he’s determined, he’s going to go to work, he’s going to do some things. We are going to miss him.
“But we’ve got a great group coming back, and Nolan knows that. He talked to them in the locker room, told them to keep working, and he’ll do anything for them if they need anything. He was a great teammate. He’s a brother for life.”