PLEASANT HILL - The Fort Dodge boys basketball team was denied a third straight victory here on Monday night, dropping a 61-52 road decision to Southeast Polk.
Despite staying within striking distance throughout, the Dodgers (6-10 overall) were unable to overcome seven first-half triples by the Rams (7-10).
"We knew they were going to shoot threes, but we just gave them too much space and never really contested them," said FDSH head coach Tom Daniel. "Once we were able to cut it to three in the second half, we started to get a little sloppy and didn't execute well enough."
JC Hatcher tallied a game-high 21 points for Fort Dodge, while Zach Martinson contributed 13 and Tyler Vaughn had 10.
"I thought we forced it (offensively) at times and went too much one-on-one," Daniel said. "Our effort was there, but we need to clean up the little things to take that next step and move up the ladder."
The Dodgers shot 47.8 percent (22 of 46) from the field and committed 12 turnovers.
Fact Box
SE Polk 61, Fort Dodge 52
Southeast Polk - Tucker Kamman 16, Luke Hassman 10, Nick Jeffries 11, Sean Gardner 5, Nick Arnold 17, Ryan Curtis 2.
Fort Dodge - JC Hatcher 21, Tyler Vaughn 10, Andrew Stover 2, Blake Wilder 6, Zach Martinson 13.
Quarter scores: SEP led 21-17, 32-27, 43-36.
Nick Arnold (17) and Tucker Kamman (16) led the balanced offensive attack for Southeast Polk, which snapped a three-game slide.
Fort Dodge visits unbeaten and No. 5 (Class 4A) Sioux City East (17-0) this evening.