John Bohnenkamp for Pen City Current Sports
FORT MADISON - The tone for the night was set with Hunter Cresswell’s roaring dunk down the middle of the lane.
It was only the second field goal of the game for Fort Madison’s boys basketball team, but it was a statement on a night when the Bloodhounds spoke loudly.
The 77-48 win over Fairfield on Friday night was the season opener and Southeast Conference opener for the Bloodhounds, and it was clear from the beginning that a statement was going to be made.
“That was nice,” said coach Ryan Wilson, who was celebrating his birthday on Friday. “When the boys go out and play well and win, it makes it more enjoyable. They did it as a team tonight. It was a group effort.”
“It’s huge,” said sophomore Nolan Guzman, who led the Bloodhounds with 20 points. “Coach mentioned it in the pre-game — the road to the conference championship is today. We wanted to make a statement, and we did.”
The statement started right away with Cresswell’s dunk.
“It really had us fired up,” Guzman said.
The dunk was part of a 16-4 opening run by the Bloodhounds. Fairfield crept back into the game, getting to within 21-15, before Fort Madison closed the first half with a 19-4 run.
“I think we fell in love with some 3-pointers,” Wilson said. "But we weathered the storm there.
"I think it was just our defense. Defense leads to easy baskets.”
“We were playing together as a team, offensively and defensively,” Guzman said. “Talking, making the defensive switches, just running the floor because they weren’t getting back that great.”
The Bloodhounds kept going in the second half, closing out the win with fury. Fairfield was within 64-45 with five minutes to play before Fort Madison scored the next 13 points, with the final four points in that run coming from Guzman.
Cresswell finished with 16 points. Dayton Lamar had 10. Seven Bloodhounds scored in the game.
“That’s what we’re going to need this year,” Wilson said. “Guys stepped up and played hard tonight.”
Riley Perkins led Fairfield with 14 points. Sam Weaton had 13.
Fort Madison plays Williamsburg Saturday, a team that won 18 games last season.
“We have to come back tomorrow and be ready,” Wilson said.
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