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Fairfield swept by Ft. Madison
Trojans boys, girls hoops drop SEC matchups
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FAIRFIELD - The Fairfield boys and girls basketball were swept by Southeast Conference foe Ft. Madison on Friday. The Trojans girls team was defeated 62-30 and the boys team lost 62-52.
Ft. Madison took some revenge in the boys game after it fell 47-44 to the Trojans on Dec. 5. The Bloodhounds had a shot to tie the game at the buzzer that fell just short.
This time it was the Trojans who didn’t have enough juice to pull out a victory. Fairfield got off to a smooth start, but Ft. Madison surged out of halftime, outscoring the Trojans 20-10 in the third quarter and 36-22 in the second half to hand Fairfield its fourth straight defeat.
“We played really well in the first half and then in the second half we kind of reverted back to the way we played before,” Trojans coach Nathan Perkins said. “We started turning the basketball over. When we put a whole game together, it’ll be great.”
Fairfield had a balanced box score with much of that output coming in the first two quarters. Ethan Bisgard and Rowan Kness each scored 11 points to lead the Trojans. Bisgard was responsible for Fairfield’s first five points. Kness hit all three of his successful 3-point attempts in the first half.
Andrew Myers finished the game with nine points. Spencer McCready and Eli Zillman each chipped in seven.
The Bloodhounds seemed to gain more energy throughout the game as they hunted for their first win. Fairfield had no answer for Ft. Madison’s Nolan Guzman. The senior racked up 33 points on just 14 shots, connecting on 10, including a 4 of 4 clip from the 3-point line.
Ft. Madison was also boosted by 6-foot-10 forward Darius Foy, who tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds. Foy did not play in the first matchup against Fairfield.
“We have trouble defending big guys inside because we’re not very big,” Perkins said. “That is kind of this team’s Achilles' heel right now, and they’re getting better at it. We do better than we did at the start of the year, but we’re not there yet.”
First half struggles sink Fairfield girls team
A big second quarter by Ft. Madison doomed the Fairfield girls team in the first game of the night. The Bloodhounds outscored the Trojans 17-7 to take a 32-15 lead into halftime.
Ft. Madison’s ball pressure smothered Fairfield’s offense and set the tone in a comfortable win. The Trojans turned it over seven times in the second quarter leading to easy Bloodhounds buckets in transition.
“We’ve got to make sure that we keep our dribble and not stop in that situation,” Fairfield coach Brian Witzenburg said. “And we’ve talked about that and with ball reversals we’ve got to split that double team and look to attack a little bit more rather than being so passive.”
The Trojans only committed 10 turnovers in the other three quarters, and contended well on the glass with 24 rebounds, including 10 offensive boards. But difficulty navigating Ft. Madison’s diamond press setup but them in a hole they were unable to climb out of. Ft. Madison started the second half on a 14-0 run.
Lenora Felt was able to get some scoring going in the first half with two 3s and finished as Fairfield’s leading scorer with nine points. Elyse Setterstrom added six points and led the Trojans with seven rebounds. Faith Jones scored five points and grabbed five boards.
Up next for the Trojans girls team is a matchup with Grinnell on Monday night. Fairfield will then travel to Washington for a doubleheader on Friday. The Demons swept the Trojans at Fairfield on Dec. 12.
The girls game between Fairfield and Washington will tip off at 6 p.m. Friday at Washington High School with the boys game to follow. Both matchups can be streamed on the Southeast Iowa Live YouTube and Facebook pages.
Fairfield’s matchup against Grinnell tipped off before press time.
