-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Dayson Clayton of Fort Dodge shoots over Southeast Polk Malichai Williams on Friday

The shots weren’t falling for the Fort Dodge boys basketball team on Friday against Southeast Polk, and the scoreboard reflected the Dodgers’ offensive woes well into the third quarter.

Head coach Tom Daniel’s squad was in the danger zone and in need of a momentum shift, trailing by 15 points with less than 13 minutes remaining in regulation. Instead of going the conventional route, Fort Dodge turned to the effort staples — defense, rebounding and free throws — to find some energy and chip away at a seemingly-insurmountable deficit.

The strategy worked to perfection.

Tysen Kershaw continued his recent surge with 18 points as the Dodgers fought their way back to post a 55-48 CIML Iowa Conference victory over the Rams on “Mama Beisch” night in the FDSH gym.

Fort Dodge (5-11 overall) started attacking the hoop to kickstart the rally, and the Dodgers ended up shooting 28 of their 30 free throw attempts in the second half. And after allowing six three-point baskets in the opening period, the FDSH defense buckled down and surrendered only a single triple and 28 points the rest of the way.

“We knew we had to just work our way back, not panic and do a better job of guarding the perimeter,” said Kershaw, who is averaging 14.7 points over the last 10 games after scoring only 34 points total in his first six contests. “In that third quarter especially, we were just focused on playing better team defense and keeping our hands active. And we made more of an effort to try and get to the basket instead of settling (for jump shots).

“This was big. It was our first conference win, and they’d beaten us down there the first time. Coming back like that will hopefully give us some momentum for these last (six games of the regular season).”

Kershaw and Jordan Jackson combined to sink all eight of their foul shots in the third period, then the Dodgers went a respectable 14-for-20 as a team in the fourth quarter under pressure.

Two Jackson field goals were the bookends to treys by Kershaw and Jace Peterson at the close of the third period, which saw a 16-3 FDSH run trim the deficit to two. A triple by Dayson Clayton knotted the score at 41 with 6:21 remaining in regulation, and the Dodgers took the lead for good on a Peterson free throw at the 3:28 mark.

A steal and layup by senior Grant Barber on the ensuing play brought the crowd to its feet and put Fort Dodge up 47-44. It was the last field goal for the Dodgers, who made only 12 shots total and just four of the two-point variety — including none in the entire first half. Their last eight points were on foul shots.

“I thought we proved how much we wanted it (down the stretch),” said Barber, who had only three ponits but pulled down several key rebounds and offered rim protection in clutch moments. “We picked up our intensity, and I just wanted to do my part defensively and on the boards to give us some energy.”

Daniel appreciated the way his team embraced their roles and didn’t try to do too much despite trailing by double digits for most of the middle periods.

“We tell our guys all the time, every night and every game is different. When your number is called, how will you respond?” Daniel said. “This is the kind of performance that we want Fort Dodge basketball to stand for. Just being physically and mentally tough and never giving up, regardless of how things go early a game.

“We were playing back-to-back nights and against a team that had already beaten us once this year, and we really didn’t do anything through the first (two and a half periods) that indicated we were going to fight back in it. But I’ll give these kids credit for working hard and playing hard each and every time they take the court. It isn’t always pretty, but they don’t give up.”

Six-foot-3 senior Sam Glenn, the Rams’ leading scorer, had a game-high 27 points before fouling out. Only one other Southeast Polk player — Dominic Caggiano — made a field goal in the entire second half.

“Our defense in the first quarter just wasn’t there,” Daniel said of the Rams knocking down 6 of 8 three-point tries and opening up a 20-8 lead. “But guys stepped up, worked hard and made things tougher on them the rest of the way.

“Tysen broke guys down and got to the line. Dayson gave us great minutes. Grant really made some big effort plays during (the rally). Jordan and Petey knocked down their free throws late. We’re getting to the line more as a team than we have here in a long time. Going 23-for-30 will win you a lot of games, and it was important (during the comeback) that we were scoring with the clock stopped.”

The school had a ceremony and a moment of silence between the girls and boys varsity contests to honor Heidi Beisch, who was tragically killed in a car accident last month. Beisch’s two children, Kyle and Morgan, were both Dodger basketball players.

All of the FDSH boys and girls stood side-by-side at center court, wearing their “Mama Beisch” shirts as Barb Crooks read a statement in memory of Beisch.

Fort Dodge returns to action on Tuesday at No. 10 Des Moines North. The Polar Bears (12-2) have won nine straight overall.

FORT DODGE 55, SE POLK 48

Fort Dodge — Tysen Kershaw 4-8 6-8 18, Jordan Jackson 2-9 9-10 13, Jace Peterson 1-5 6-8 9, Dayson Clayton 3-7 1-2 9, Asle Thorson 1-2 0-0 3, Grant Barber 1-2 1-2 3, Malihk Lockman 0-2 0-0 0, Nolan Daniel 0-1 0-0 0, Tre Preston 0-0 0-0 0, D’Arien Calahan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 12-36 23-30 55.

Southeast Polk — Sam Glenn 9-14 6-7 27, Dominic Caggiano 4-11 0-0 10, James Glenn 2-6 0-0 6, Daniel Hackbarth 0-1 3-4 3, Malachai Williams 1-3 0-0 2, Boone Bain 0-0 0-0 0, Eli Christiansen 0-0 0-0 0, Fred Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Kaleb Krier 0-0 0-0 0, Josiah Cole 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-35 9-11 48.

Quarter scores: SE Polk led 20-8, 26-17, 39-37. Three-point goals: Fort Dodge 8-16 (Kershaw 4-5, Clayton 2-4, Peterson 1-2, Thorson 1-1, Lockman 0-2, Barber 0-1, Daniel 0-1); SE Polk 7-18 (S. Glenn 3-7, Caggiano 2-5, J. Glenn 2-6). Turnovers: Fort Dodge 7, SE Polk 13. Total fouls: Fort Dodge 13, SE Polk 21. Fouled out: S. Glenn, Williams.