Hounds open season with home loss

FORT MADISON - Inexperience caught up with Fort Madison’s boys basketball team at the worst time in Friday’s season-opening 47-44 home loss to Fairfield.
Nolan Guzman, surrounded by two Fairfield defenders, missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have tied the game.
“Was it who I wanted shooting it? Absolutely,” Fort Madison coach Ryan Wilson said after the game. “But we didn’t run the play right, we didn’t run our sets, and that’s just a sign of inexperience.”
The early weeks of the season were always expected to be a work in progress, and this game was an indication of that. But there were plenty of positives that Wilson appreciated.
“Over time as our guys mature and gain experience, they’ll understand certain situations,” he said. “There’s a few things we can clean up, and we’ll talk about it as we go over film. But man, these guys played hard, and I couldn’t be more happy with that. They fought hard, especially on defense, and we gave ourselves a chance.”
The Bloodhounds scored just five points over the last 10:25, but still had a chance to force overtime.
Fairfield scored for the final time on Ethan Bisgard’s shot inside with 35 seconds left. Fort Madison’s Brody Ulik missed a 3-pointer from the corner, but the loose rebound was knocked out of bounds by the Trojans, giving Wilson a chance to set up a final play.

Guzman, who finished with 20 points, was the obvious choice to take the shot.
“Everybody in the gym knew who was getting it, right, but that’s OK,” Wilson said. “And I would have had all the confidence in the world that either he catches and shoots it and makes it, or he gets fouled in the set we ran. But yeah, the guy who shot the ball was who we wanted, just not in the context of how we drew it up.”
The game was a back-and-forth between two Southeast Conference rivals, with neither ever gaining control.
“Every time we made a (3-pointer), they had a counter,” Wilson said. “And every time I thought we went on a run, I would look up and it was either a one-point or two-point game and I’d be like, ‘What’s going on?’ Unfortunately we could never get on that 8-0 or 10-0 run to get a big lead. It was a lot of back-and-forth, and we couldn’t get into any rhythm.”
Guzman was the only Bloodhound in double figures in scoring. Ulik and Lucas Helmick each had seven points, and Aurelio Jaciunde had six.
Bisgard led Fairfield with 13 points.
The Bloodhounds play host to Williamsburg on Saturday afternoon.
“Not much time to think about this one,” Wilson said. “But we’ll get back it and be ready.”