AMES — The Fort Dodge boys basketball squad hung tough with sixth-ranked (Class 4A) Ames for most of the opening period here on Friday.

Trailing only 13-11 in the final minute of the quarter, the Dodgers were outscored 7-0 to end the frame and then 20-10 until the intermission as Ames began to pull away for a 74-41 victory.

The Little Cyclones pushed their Iowa Alliance Conference Northern Division win streak to 23 over the last three-plus years and improved to 14-2 overall this season. Senior post players Brandon Johnson and DJ Bijiek combined for 36 points, proving to be too much underneath for Fort Dodge.

“The effort was there. I’m proud of that,” Dodger head coach Willie Williams said. “We fought. It’s tough to keep Ames down over (the course of) an entire game. They a have a lot of size and (offensive) options, and they really get after you on defense.

“There were definitely positives. We had some turnovers you just can’t (afford on the road), and some dry spells (without scoring), too. Can’t get away with that against (an opponent) like this.”

Sophomore Reggie Pederson paced Fort Dodge with 10 points. Junior Teddy Johnson added seven before getting injured.

“Reggie and Teddy gave us good minutes. So did Tytrell (Mosley),” Williams said. “We had some solid stretches. They only got us by six (in the third quarter) and like the first (period), we had played them even all the way until the last minute (of the frame).”

Johnson had 23 points and Bijiek added 13. Will Thomas also reached double figures with 11 for the Little Cyclones.

Fort Dodge has back-to-back home games this Thursday and Friday against No. 2 (3A) Storm Lake and Des Moines North.

AMES 74, FORT DODGE 41

Ames — Brandon Johnson 8 7-7 23, DJ Bijiek 6 1-2 13, Will Thomas 4 3-3 11, Kuach Kuach 4 0-1 8, Ben Weiss 2 0-0 6, Jaishaun Brooks 2 0-0 6, Max Sutton 1 0-0 3, Masiah Younis 1 0-2 2, Dau Lual 1 0-0 2. Totals: 29 11-15 74.

Fort Dodge — Reggie Pederson 5 0-0 10, Teddy Johnson 2 3-3 7, Hayden Zuspann 2 0-0 6, Tytrell Mosley 2 0-0 4, Brody Maehl 1 1-2 3, Taevon Feeley 1 1-2 3, Karter Hemrick 1 0-0 3, Tisyn Hook 1 0-0 2, Joseph Petersen 1 0-0 2, Gavin Davis 0 1-2 1, Kyree Rochon 0 0-0 0, Javion Soppeland 0 0-0 0, Carter Morris 0 0-0 0, Kauner Jensen 0 0-0 0, Adrik Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 6-9 41.

Quarter scores: Ames led 20-11, 40-21, 59-34. Three-point goals: Ames 5 (Weiss 2, Brooks 2, Sutton 1); Fort Dodge 3 (Zuspann 2, Hemrick 1).