Hound boys open bracket with Washington at home

FORT MADISON - Fort Madison’s boys basketball team will get a home game to open Class 3A substate play next week.
The Bloodhounds (11-9), the Southeast Conference champions, are the No. 4 seed in the substate 6 bracket and will play host to fifth-seed Washington (9-11) in a quarterfinal at 7 p.m. February 24.
It’s a rematch of one of Fort Madison’s biggest wins of the season — the Bloodhounds defeated the Demons 90-87 in double overtime on February 7, keeping their conference title hopes alive.
Fort Madison swept the Demons this season — the Bloodhounds won 68-49 at Washington on January 3.
The winner of the Fort Madison/Washington game will play either top seed Knoxville (20-0) or No. 8 seed Mount Pleasant (2-18) in a February 27 semifinal at a site to be determined. Knoxville was No. 3 in the latest Class 3A rankings from the Iowa High School Athletic Association.
Keokuk (14-6), which finished second behind the Bloodhounds in the conference standings, is the third seed in the substate bracket and will play host to sixth seed Oskaloosa (6-14) in a February 24 quarterfinal. Mount Vernon (15-5), the second seed, will play host to seventh seed Fairfield (6-14) in the other quarterfinal. The winners of those two games will play in a February 27 semifinal.
The substate final is March 3 at a site to be determined. The winner advances to the state tournament.