DONNELLSON – Central Lee Head Coach Jonny Swanson was a little nervous going into Saturday’s home matchup with cross-county rival Fort Madison.
The game usually is on a Saturday following a late Friday game and the toll that can take on a team showed up last year when the Bloodhounds won 81-53 in the quick turnaround.
“We got killed last year when we played them. We had that big win over HTC here and all that hype, and then got beat Saturday morning,” Swanson said.
But this game was Central Lee from the get-go as the Hawks opened up an 8-0 lead off the tip and never gave up the lead enroute to a 65-52 win at Central Lee High School.
Carson Morrison had five points in the opening run and finished with 13.
Fort Madison would fight back to an 8-7 game on a put-back bucket by Aurelio Jacuinde, but the Hawks (8-2, 6-2 SEISC South) would push back working a spread wide perimeter attack with 6’7” Will Hayes patrolling the lane. Hayes would be working on 6’9” Darius Foy who had four blocks during the game. But Hayes’ patience inside not only resulted in 21 points for the night, but also put Foy in foul trouble early – a plan that Swanson had going in.
“Our goal, offensively, was to get Will going. He’s been playing really well. We like to move him around. Sometimes we have him on the perimeter and dribble driving against bigger guys or even smaller,” Swanson said.
"We felt pretty good about that matchup. If we went in to Will early maybe we could get the Foy kid in some foul trouble and maybe get him out of the game. His shot blocking and rebounding are the best part of his game. If he’s on the bench, that’s a whole lot better for us.”
Foy scored just six points and rode the bench intermittently throughout the final three periods with Fort Madison Head Coach Ryan Wilson trying to preserve his post as long as possible.
The Hawks opened up an 11-point lead in the second quarter when Kaden Swan scored in transition at the rim for a 27-16 lead. They would hold that lead through the quarter, ending the half with a 33-22 advantage.
Central Lee shot 48% from the field in the first half going 12 of 25, including a stretch where they went 6 of 7 including three 3-balls. They would finish the game at 48% going 26-of-54 but only got to the freethrow line seven times going 6 of 7.
“We have a really unselfish team. Any given night we could have a new high scorer. Owen, Carson, Will, Kaden. We do a good job of sharing the ball and creating advantages for the next guy,” Swanson said.
“If you watch our film, or watch one of our games, you never think it’s going to be a miss. We get guys taking the shots that are best for them every time down the floor. A pull-up jumper, a standstill three, or getting to the rim. We work a lot on that in practice and that confidence thing. Every time we shoot the ball I think it’s going in, whether or not it does.”
Swanson said the really good part about that is that it’s hard for opponents to scout and prepare for.
“The nice thing about that is that it’s hard to scout. People know Will is our go to guy, but it’s not always like that. Will is more than happy to get it back out.”
The Bloodhounds wouldn’t get closer than eight in the second half and that was in the early going when Nolan Guzman hit for a 3 to make it 33-25 out of the break. Central Lee would push the lead to as much as 18 when Hayes completed a 3-point play off a Guzman foul for a 56-38 lead. Guzman finished with 19 to lead the Hounds, but 12 of those points came in the final four minutes when the senior started to get some whistles off dribble penetration. The first three quarters Fort Madison got to the freethrow line just six times and spent a lot of time on the floor losing their footing and ball control.
“Lot of turnovers. We just haven’t been great at taking care of the ball this year. We’re holding the ball too long and not seeing the open man or Darius inside, and when they finally do, there’s two guys on him,” Wilson said.
“We have to make those reads sooner and find the open man sooner or even look to score in the paint sooner. Make some adjustments and take care of the ball.”
Wilson said communication has to improve and the Hounds need to start buying in.
“We’re nine games in and this doesn’t get any easier. Before you know it, it will be the post-season and we’ll be looking at an 8-seed playing a 1,” he said.
“We’re not communicating. We’re not getting to the ball and into the gap to alleviate paint drives. These are our shell principals. No. 1 is ball pressure. Get to the ball, muck up the lane, and make them kick it out. But the number of points at the rim and in the paint today was just unacceptable.”
Ezekial Groves and Brody Ulik each had nine for Fort Madison (0-9, 0-4 SEC). Morrison and Kaden Swan each had 13 for the Hawks who have quietly won seven of their last eight with the only loss being a 5-point loss to Mediapolis. They travel to No. 4 Burlington Notre Dame on Tuesday and then host Danville on Friday.
The Bloodhounds take on Keokuk (7-2) on Tuesday as part of a three-game week that includes Fairfield on Friday and Holy Trinity Catholic in another Saturday matinee next week.
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