Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Senior Taevon Feeley drives for Fort Dodge on Tuesday against Perry. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

Fort Dodge build some momentum heading into the postseason and sent its seniors off with a win on Tuesday night, as the Dodger boys rolled past Perry by a final of 76-58.

Head coach Willie Williams’ squad, now 4-17, capped off the regular season with a double-digit victory over Perry for the second straight season. Fort Dodge will now face Ankeny Centennial in a Class 4A, Substate 2 opener in Ankeny on Monday. The winner advances to meet Urbandale in the semifinals.

Senior Hayden Zuspann led the Dodgers with 20 points, including six three-point buckets. Sophomore Reggie Pederson added 15, junior Teddy Johnson scored 12 off the bench, and senior Tytrell Mosley added 11.

“These seniors mean so much to me…I don’t want to get too emotional,” said Williams. “I appreciate everything they do. In four years of Dodger basketball, they’ve set a standard for us on and off the court.

“We have Centennial on Monday now and I told them we need to believe. It’s good to play like this going into the postseason. We got a good win on our home court.”

The Dodgers honored seniors Taevon Feeley, Gavin Davis, Zuspann, Mosley, Karter Hemrick, Carter Morris, Tisyn Hook, Kauner Jensen and Jeffery Rudshagen prior to the start of the contest. All of them got time on the court as well.

Senior Gustavo Drahos led Perry (3-19) with 22 points. Freshman Luke Adair added 10.

The Bluejays ended the regular season on a nine-game losing streak. They’ll play at Carroll on Monday in a Class 3A substate opener.

The Dodgers raced out to a 12-0 lead halfway through the first quarter, but Perry climbed back to 17-11 by the end of the frame.

Fort Dodge pushed the lead to 24-15 on a bucket by Pederson with 6:11 to go in the half, but again, Perry closed the gap and actually tied it at 24-all.

From there, though, the Dodgers closed the second period on a 9-0 run to go up 33-24 at the break. They went up 14 early in the third and never looked back.

“It was good to see the guys scoring with confidence and shooting the ball well,” said Williams. “We knew Perry would make a run and my guys did a great job getting through it.

“We played together for all 32 minutes. They had good body language. They played well together.”

The Dodgers reeled off 11 straight in the third period to make it 49-27, then had it up to 55-33 with 2:52 in the third period. Once again, Perry used its own run to make it 55-45 with 38 seconds in that frame.

Mosley finished the quarter with a driving buzz-beater.

Perry got it back to 10 at 62-52 with 6:59 to play, but the home squad delivered a 12-0 knockout punch.

Fort Dodge used its size advantage inside for a big edge on the boards. Johnson had nine rebounds and Brody Maehl grabbed seven.

Fort Dodge also shot well from behind the arc, hitting nine of 22 triple tries. The Dodgers were 11 of 13 from the free throw line and 28 of 53 (53 percent) from the floor.

FORT DODGE 76, PERRY 58

Fort Dodge – Taevon Feely 3-4 1-1 7, Hayden Zuspann 6-13 2-2 20, Tytrell Mosley 4-8 0-0 11, Reggie Pederson 6-10 3-4 15, Brody Maehl 4-8 1-2 9, Gavin Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Karter Hemrick 0-0 0-0 0, Carter Morris 0-2 0-0 0, Tisyn Hook 1-1 0-0 2, Teddy Johnson 4-7 4-4 12, Kauner Jensen 0-0 0-0 0, Jeffery Rudshagen 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-53 11-13 76.

Perry – Gustavo Drahos 8-17 2-7 22, Gavin Leslie 2-3 0-1 4, Nile McClintock 0-5 0-0 0, George Krohn 4-8 0-0 9, Luke Adair 4-11 0-0 10, Alex Rivera 2-2 0-0 4, Jacobo Cerna-Gomez, 3-4 1-1 7, Reid Iben 0-0 0-0 0, Nadir Ouahbi 0-5 0-0 0, Kayden Webb 1-2 0-0 2, Carlos Martinez 0-0 0-0 0, Jose Ortega 0-1, 0-0. Totals 24-58 3-9, 58.

Quarter scores: Fort Dodge led 17-11, 33-24, 59-47. Three-point goals: Fort Dodge 9-22 (Zuspann 6-13, Mosley 3-5, Pederson 0-1, Davis 0-1, Morris 0-2); Perry 7-21 (Drahos 4-9, McClintock 0-3, Krohn 1-2, Adair 2-5, Ortega 0-1). Totals fouls: Fort Dodge 8, Perry 8.