Submitted photo: the Fort Dodge student section and cheerleaders wear blue to honor Perry on Thursday in the Dodger gym.

For one night at least, blue was one of Fort Dodge’s school colors.

The Dodger boys basketball team played host to Perry on Thursday — the Bluejays’ fourth straight game away from home after the school shooting that took place on Jan. 4 at the high school and middle school.

The support and encouragement of the Dodger crowd inside the FDSH gym yesterday evening was on display.

Fort Dodge’s players wore their blue warmup tops again, the Dodger cheerleaders, student section and most of the Fort Dodge fans wore blue. Students even unveiled a banner that read “We are Perry Strong — Dodger Basketball” as the teams were being introduced.

It just seemed fitting that the Blue Jays rallied in the second half and came away with a 69-65 victory over FDSH. It was the Blue Jays’ first win since the tragedy.

Perry played three other contests away from home, including a game at Wells Fargo Arena against Saydel on Jan 6 — its first game back. They’ve also had four games postponed.

“Getting a win is really nice,” said Perry Coach David Morris. “The kids have been struggling. This is definitely good for their well-being.

“It’s almost like therapy in itself.”

Perry had hoped to play this game at a neutral site after two straight road dates. When that didn’t happen, FDSH activities director Brandon Ruffridge stated he was more than willing to bring the game here.

“It was an easy decision,” Ruffridge said. “We wanted to do all we could to help them. It was great to see all the blue in the stands and the kids with the banner. And we’re going to send them home with some pizza and Tropical Smoothie.”

Fort Dodge head coach Willie Williams was more than happy to offer his support and encouragement to Perry, but he was also hoping to keep his resurgent second half of the season going. The Dodgers had been 3-3 in January after going winless before the winter break.

“We knew Perry had a lot to play for. That’s a very physical team,” Williams said. “We just want to let them know they’ve got our support the rest of the year, but we were also hoping to get a win.”

Fort Dodge trailed 19-12 after the first quarter, but closed the half on a 13-4 run to turn a 28-26 deficit into a 39-32 lead at the break.

Junior Cade Westerhoff had 11 points in the second quarter alone and finished with 22 to lead the Dodgers (3-12).

After Drake Warland scored to open the third period and push the lead to 41-32, Perry (4-9) went on a 10-0 run for a 42-41 edge. Owen Myers and Drake Levan combined for all 10 points.

“We just didn’t put together four complete quarters,” said Williams.”We took some plays off and we paid for it.”

The teams traded buckets in the fourth period before the Bluejays used a three and a layup from Gustavo Drahos to take a 61-58 advantage with 3:27 remaining.

The Dodgers tied it at 65-all on a bucket by Westerhoff, but Perry went ahead for good with 22 seconds left on another three by Drahos.

Drahos then made the defensive play of the night, blocking a Dodger three-point attempt with less than 10 seconds left. Brandon Zander Mahler got the rebound, was fouled and made one of two free throws for the final margin.

Warland added 19 points for the Dodgers, while junior Carter Woodruff finished with 15.

Perry was paced by Myers with 19. Geren Kenney added 17 and Drahos finished with 16 off the bench, including four three-pointers.

The Bluejays made seven three-pointers on just 11 attempts. The Dodgers were seven of 15 from beyond the arc.

Fort Dodge gets no time off. The Dodgers host Waterloo East on Friday in a Iowa Alliance Conference Northern Division contest, then play at Urbandale on Monday.

Morris said the plan is to return to school next week. Perry’s next scheduled home date is Feb. 1 versus Atlantic.

“Playing on the road right now stinks, but these kids realize it’s either that or we don’t play,” said Morris. “We knew that’s what we had to do.”

PERRY 69, FORT DODGE 65

Perry — Drake Levan 4-9 0-0 8, Owen Myers 9-12 1-1 19, Brandon Zander Mahler 1-3 3-4 5, Geren Kenney 7-9 1-2 17, Kaelan Davis 1-2 0-0 3, Gustavo Drahos 6-8 0-0 16, Eagan Leber 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Schuttler 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 28-44 6-9 69.

Fort Dodge — Carter Woodruff 5-7 2-4 15, Cade Westerhoff 9-15 2-4 22, Ty Mosley 2-6 0-0 5, Ty Adams 1-4 1-2 3, Drake Warland 9-15 0-0 19, Hayden Zuspann 0-1 0-0 0, Jackson McQuillen 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 26-49 6-12 65.

Quarter scores: Perry led 19-12, Fort Dodge led 39-32, Perry led 51-50. Three-point goals: Perry 7-11 (Zander Mahler 0-1, Kenny 2-2, Davis 1-2, Drahos 4-6); Fort Dodge 7-15 (Woodruff 3-3, Westerhoff 2-2, Mosley 1-3, Adams 0-1, Warland 1-5, Zuspann 0-1). Total fouls: Perry 15, Fort Dodge 11.