-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Hayden Zuspann of Fort Dodge puts up a shot against Boone on Tuesday inside Dodgers gym

The final score didn’t keep the spirits of Willie Williams down here Tuesday night.

Following a tough 71-63 loss to Boone in the season opener, Williams made sure to let his Fort Dodge boys they were on the right track.

“We played hard — every single kid who went out there did that,” Williams said. “We knew we had to try and keep them off the glass as much as we could, and we didn’t do that. But what really hurt us was free throw shooting.

“We just left too many points out there.”

The Dodgers (0-1 overall) missed 14 shots from the charity stripe and went just 3-for-6 on free throws following three technical fouls called on the Toreadors (1-0) — a squad that returned all five starters from a team that beat Fort Dodge last year, 62-39.

“You just can’t do that at the line,” Williams said. “We had some chances to either extend our lead or at least get back in it (in the fourth quarter) if we make those, and we just couldn’t convert.”

Senior Cade Westerhoff led the Dodgers with 23 points while junior Hayden Zuspann came off the bench to score 13. Westerhoff also had nine rebounds and two steals.

Junior post Kauner Jensen added five points and seven rebounds.

For Boone, Braden Brooks scored 20 and was one of three players with at least 10 rebounds. Tyson Shivers had 14 points and 11 boards, and Jude Baumgardner had 12 rebounds.

The Toreadors held a 53-37 advantage on the glass.

“They are a bigger, physical team, so we knew there would be a mismatch there,” Williams said. “Those offensive rebounds were just hard to overcome. They got too many second, third and even fourth opportunities to score.”

Fort Dodge took an early 10-2 lead as Zuspann came in and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers. But Boone answered quickly, stringing together different runs of 8-0, 8-2 and 10-0 before intermission.

A total of 26 fouls were called in the first 16 minutes, and the Dodgers were out-rebounded by just four at that time. Boone, though, would control much of the second half on the glass thanks to its size advantage.

“Hayden did well,” Williams said. “Cade did too, and I thought that Carter (Woodruff) did a nice job of running the point before cramping up and having to come out.”

Woodruff had five points, four rebounds and four steals. Freshman Reggie Pederson scored four points in his Dodger debut.

Fort Dodge is back home on Friday when they host Spencer at 7:45 p.m.

BOONE 71, FORT DODGE 63

Fort Dodge — Carter Woodruff 0 5-8 5, Cade Westerhoff 7 6-9 23, Tayven Altman 1 1-2 3, Tytrell Mosley 2 0-0 4, Kauner Jensen 2 1-2 5, Hayden Zuspann 6 2-6 13, Tisyn Hook 1 0-2 2, Reggie Pederson 2 0-0 4, Gavin Davis 0 0-0 0, Brody Maehl 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 15-29 63.

Boone — Wes Van Pelt 3 0-0 6, Tyson Shivers 6 2-5 14, Braden Brooks 7 3-8 20, Reid Carr 4 2-2 12, Braden Brooks 7 3-8 20, Jude Baumgardner 0 0-0 0, Devin Silbaugh 0 0-0 0, Hendrix Moorman 3 2-2 10, Dayne Brekke 0 0-0 0, Brandon Holm 0 3-4 3, Landon Myers 3 0-0 6. Totals: 26 12-21 71.

Quarter scores: Boone led 21-19, 39-38; Tied 51-51. Three-point goals: Fort Dodge 6 (Westerhoff 3, Zuspann 3), Boone 7 (Brooks 3, Carr 2, Moorman 2). Total rebounds: Fort Dodge 37, Boone 53. Steals: Fort Dodge 14, Boone 10. Blocked shots: Fort Dodge 3, Boone 2. Team fouls: Fort Dodge 25, Boone 22. Fouled out: Westerhoff, Van Pelt. Turnovers: Fort Dodge 17, Boone 25.