Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Taevon Feeley of Fort Dodge drives to the basket against Humboldt on Monday at the Dodger gym. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

Fort Dodge and Humboldt didn’t exactly scorch the nets here on Monday, but a 37-30 victory by the Wildcat boys in the Dodger gym never lacked energy or intensity.

Head coach Ryan O’Hern’s squad grinded out a road win despite making just 11 field goals and turning the ball over 14 times. Defense was the name of the game for Humboldt, which held its second consecutive opponent under 35 points to start the season 2-0.

Fort Dodge, meanwhile, was left wondering what might have been again. The Dodgers (1-3 overall) did everything they needed to on the defensive end themselves and then some, but the execution with the ball — especially minus leading scorer Reggie Pederson — left far too much to be desired and ultimately cost them an opportunity to defend their home court to start the week.

“So frustrated for the guys,” FDSH head coach Willie Williams said. “Can’t fault the effort at all. They played hard. They wanted it. I beg for them to get stops, and they got stops.

“You have to take care of the basketball and make shots, though. We just couldn’t get anything to drop and didn’t execute consistently enough. But there were two teams scrapping and battling out there.”

Jackson Flaherty’s free-throw shooting wound up being the biggest difference in a game otherwise void of any offensive rhythm. The Humboldt senior guard knocked down 10 of his 12 attempts at the charity stripe, including eight makes in the second half, as the Wildcats found a way to crawl across the finish line after only three baskets in the last 16 minutes.

“We know we have to play sound, fundamental defense first and foremost with this team,” said O’Hern, the former Eagle Grove all-stater and Iowa Central guard who is in his first season at the helm with Humboldt. “We want to take away as many threes as possible and contest anything going to the rim.

“We saw what (Dodger senior Hayden) Zuspann did at Spencer (six triples and 20 points) and did a good job of identifying him and not giving up any clean looks. ”

Fort Dodge got within a single possession on three different occasions in the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats never relinquished the lead. A Kauner Jensen bucket with 3:55 left in regulation made it 32-29. The Dodgers had just one point the rest of the way in a slugfest that looked more like a football contest than basketball at times.

“We protected that lead late, even though they got it down to three (multiple times),” O’Hern said. “We never let them get over the hump, hung in there and found a way.

“They’ve got a good ballclub. It’s always a plus to get a road win.”

Senior guard Tytrell Mosley had 10 points to lead FDSH, though it all came in the first half. Taevon Feeley added eight for the Dodgers, who didn’t make a single three-pointer and had 17 more turnovers.

“Tytrell gave us everything he had,” Williams said. “I truly believe that if we keep going as hard as we did and lock down defensively, the shots will drop and they’ll start seeing results they want. Not having Reggie’s offense is tough (Pederson is likely out at least the rest of the week with an ankle injury), but you have to just take the next-man-up mentality and find a way. We did that at Spencer (last Friday), but couldn’t turn the corner (last night).”

Flaherty had a game-high 15 points.

Fort Dodge is back in action, weather permitting, on Tuesday at Des Moines Lincoln. Humboldt has its home opener versus Newell-Fonda.

HUMBOLDT 37, FORT DODGE 30

Humboldt — Jackson Flaherty 2-9 10-12 15, Valley Davis 3-8 0-2 6, Cade Birdsell 1-5 2-2 4, Chase Hansen 1-2 0-0 3, Chase Flaherty 1-5 0-0 2, Karson Rubel 1-1 0-0 3, Dane Clark 1-1 0-0 2, Landyn Dencklau 1-1 0-0 2, Cooper Theesfeld 0-1 0-0 0, Levi Rieck 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 11-33 12-16 37.

Fort Dodge — Tytrell Mosley 4-9 2-2 10, Taevon Feeley 4-9 0-0 8, Brody Maehl 2-2 1-4 5, Kauner Jensen 1-3 0-0 2, Hayden Zuspann 0-6 0-0 0, Teddy Johnson 1-2 1-1 3, Karter Hemrick 1-5 0-0 2, Tisyn Hook 0-0 0-0 0, Gavin Davis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-36 4-7 30.

Quarter scores: Humboldt led 11-8, 20-18, 28-23. Three-point goals: Humboldt 3-15 (J. Flaherty 1-4, Rubel 1-1, Hansen 1-1, C. Flaherty 0-4, Birdsell 0-4, Rieck 0-1); Fort Dodge 0-7 (Zuspann 0-3, Davis 0-3, Mosley 0-1). Turnovers: Humboldt 14, Fort Dodge 17. Total fouls: Humboldt 12, Fort Dodge 16.