Hounds fall to Panthers in OT

FORT MADISON – Fort Madison’s Nolan Guzman doesn’t run out of gas, on Friday he just ran out of time.
The senior put up 30 points in a 63-61 overtime loss to Mt. Pleasant in Southeast Conference boys' basketball action Friday night in Fort Madison.
The two teams entered the extra session tied at 57, a spot the Hounds had been stuck at for just over five minutes in the final quarter of regulation.
Lucas Helmick hit just inside the 3-point line on a nice kickout from Guzman off some penetration for a 57-48 lead with about 5:10 left in the game.
But the Panthers answered with a crazy shot from Isaiah Lange who was right under the net and threw a put back straight up the left side of the rim that went high and dropped straight through the net to make it 57-50 and kickstart a rally from the Panthers.
Mt. Pleasant would get a stop and then Helmick got handsy at the other end on a Grayson Lowery drive from the left side. Lowery would slide into the lane past Helmick who slapped at him on the way by, and finished with a bank shot. He converted the 3-point play to cut the lead to four.
Guzman would miss at the other end, and then Darius Foy would foul out on the next trip down when he got Noah Lange on the arm playing some draped defense instead of going straight up with the 6’7” Lange. Lange converted the bucket, but missed the freethrow and the game was just two points at 57-55.
Fort Madison would miss their next three shots, all by different Hounds with Helmick, Guzman, and Jonah Tackett all failing to convert. Noah Lange would score off a Ryan Helling miss with :59 showing on the clock to tie things up. Mt. Pleasant wouldn’t get another shot off before the end of regulation, and Fort Madison’s Guzman fired up a 26 footer at the buzzer that missed everything left.
Noah Lange opened up the OT session with back-to-back buckets for a four point lead at 61-57. Guzman would then hit a 3-ball from the left side in front of the Fort Madison student section and celebrated with them on the way back down the court.
Mt. Pleasant’s Aiden Humble then missed on a long three from the top of the key and Helling would get whistled for an offensive foul crashing in from the right side.

Guzman made the first freethrow to tie things up at 61 with 11 seconds left, but he missed the second freebie.
Mt. Pleasant would get the ball over the time line and call a timeout with six seconds left on the clock. They would set up a play with Noah Lange at the freethrow line. He would slide down the right side and put back a miss by Lowery from the left for the game-winner.
Fort Madison had a set with :00.8 left on the clock, but Helling picked off the half-court pass to end the game.
“Got stagnant. We relied on Nolan a lot and didn’t run out stuff. We tried running our sets and couldn’t get into ‘em,” Head Coach Ryan Wilson said.
“We’re a young team and, when the shot clock gets down in pressure situations, we rely on our senior point guard. I think we relied on him a little too much. I’m not totally against that, but I think there were times when Jonah or someone could've driven to the basket and kicked it out for a three from Lucas or someone.”
But Wilson said he was proud of the effort of his team who played a good portion of the second half without the 6’9” Foy.
“Everybody knows who’s going to get the ball for us, especially without Darius on the floor,” he said.
“Just super proud. I talked about being proud. We talked about taking steps forward. We saw 36 minutes of basketball tonight. We competed, never got down and out, contolled the game for the most part, but we just have to keep learning and mature with these types of games.”
Tackett had 10 points for the Hounds and was the only other player in double figures. Mt. Pleasant was led by Noah Lange with 20. Helling had 12 and Isaiah Lange was in double figures with 10.
The Hounds fall to 1-12 on the year and 1-6 in Southeast Conference play. They have Clark County, Mo., on the road Tuesday, and Burlington on Friday, with No. 5 Pella Saturday in Fort Madison.
Wilson needs just one more win to tie Mark Bigler for most wins in school history. He is in his 11th season with the Bloodhounds.