-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Ti Juan Isom of Fort Dodge shoots around Des Moines North Jayden McGregory on Tuesday

After a frustrating season with a lot of lost nights, the Fort Dodge boys are hoping they found something in the fourth quarter of their home finale on Tuesday.

There was ultimately too much distance between the Dodgers and Des Moines North, which left town with a 72-59 victory. What appeared to be a blowout loss turned into a relatively competitive finish, though, as head coach Willie Williams’ squad outscored the Polar Bears 29-17 in the fourth quarter with a frenetic full-court press and an aggressive offensive attack that yielded a season-high 28 free throw attempts.

“I’m really encouraged by that, and I hope our guys are, too,” Williams said of the final period. “We still made mistakes, but we didn’t turn the ball over nearly as much and forced them into some turnovers.

“More than anything, we played hard. Consistently hard. That’s a must for this group if we want to be competitive (at No. 2 (3A) Clear Lake on Thursday and at West Des Moines Dowling in a substate quarterfinal on Monday).”

The first three quarters were a struggle. Fort Dodge trailed North (5-16) by 21 points at halftime, and the deficit reached 25 heading into the last frame.

The Dodgers turned up the pressure, though, and the Polar Bears committed nearly as many turnovers down the stretch — 10 in the fourth period — as they had up to that point in the contest (12 before). FDSH capitalized, whittling away the deficit despite ultimately running out of time.

In the final appearance on his home court, senior Javion Jondle had 15 of his game-high 24 points in the second half. Jondle and sophomore Drake Warland — who added a career-high 16 points — combined for 18 in the final eight minutes.

The Dodgers, who have been hard-pressed to get to the foul line this year, attempted 16 in the fourth quarter alone. They made 11 — not spectacular at 69 percent, but much better than their season-average of 53.

Fort Dodge had been getting to the charity stripe an average of 13 times per game before Tuesday.

“We were much better (with free throws) than we’ve been, but we still missed too many (eight) in the second half when we were trying to fight our way back,” Williams said. “But I loved seeing the aggressiveness. We didn’t quit. There are just a lot of little things that we need to address and get cleaned up as a program, top to bottom. It all adds up.”

Jondle (8-for-11) and Warland (6-for-8) combined to go 14 of 19 at the line. They were only 8 of 13 in the second half, however.

Senior Ti’Juan Isom — like Jondle and Kyron Wilson, taking the court after being recognized during Senior Night — added eight points.

“Drake, Ti’Juan and Javion played hard. All of our guys did, really,” Williams said. “(Freshman forward) Hunter (Horn) gave us active minutes (off the bench). He didn’t score much, but he was relentless and made things happen.

“If we make some more free throws, hit a few more shots from (three-point range, where the Dodgers were 2-for-15) and don’t dig ourselves such an early hole, who knows.”

Freshman Jayden McGregory paced the Polar Bears with 20 points. Kenny Brooks and Naszir Lamar contributed 11 each, with David Caulker — a 6-foot-5 Iowa State University defensive line recruit — adding 10.

Fort Dodge started three sophomores — Warland, Cade Westerhoff and Carter Woodruff — while using freshmen Horn and Tytrell Mosley and sophomore Brayden Reimers off the bench.

Jondle now ranks 18th on the program’s all-time scoring charts with 644 career points.

The Dodgers (1-18) turn their attention to the powerhouse Lions on Thursday and then the Maroons, who went 9-11 in the regular season. Dowling defeated Des Moines Lincoln on Tuesday, 62-55.

“Everyone is 0-0 once the tournament starts,” Williams said. “We need to have confidence and believe in ourselves. This was the first time in a while I saw that in their eyes (afterward).”

DM NORTH 72, FORT DODGE 59

Des Moines North — Jayden McGregory 5-12 7-8 20, Kenny Brooks 5-12 0-1 11, David Caulker 5-5 0-3 10, Amos Poe 1-3 3-4 5, Bobby Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Naszir Lamar 4-5 2-3 11, Mason Straight 2-5 0-1 5, D’corion White 2-2 1-2 5, Aron Gonkaryon 2-4 1-2 5, Chok Majok 0-1 0-0 0, Raysuan Ford 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-51 14-24 72.

Fort Dodge — Drake Warland 5-9 6-8 16, Carter Woodruff 1-7 3-4 5, Cade Westerhoff 1-4 2-2 4, Ty Adams 0-2 0-2 0, Kyron Wilson 0-1 0-0 0, Javion Jondle 7-17 8-11 24, Ti’Juan Isom 4-6 0-1 8, Hunter Horn 1-4 0-0 2, Brayden Reimers 0-0 0-0 0, Tytrell Mosley 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Daniel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-50 19-28 59.

Quarter scores: North led 20-8, 38-17, 55-30. Three-point goals: North 6-15 (McGregory 3-5, Lamar 1-2, Straight 1-3, Brooks 1-2, Poe 0-2, Gonkaryon 0-1); Fort Dodge 2-15 (Jondle 2-7, Woodruff 0-4, Warland 0-2, Isom 0-1, Adams 0-1). Turnovers: North 22, Fort Dodge 21. Total fouls: North 21, Fort Dodge 20. Technical foul: Fort Dodge bench. Fouled out: Caulker.