Davis hits for 26 as Lady Hounds roll

FORT MADISON - The pop to Dayonna Davis’ elbow sent some voltage through her arm.
The Fort Madison junior had done everything in Friday’s game against Washington, but the pain from getting hit bent her over near mid-court.
She headed into the hallway with a trainer, but it wasn’t long before she was back in the game.
“Got hit in the funny bone,” Davis said after the game. “I’m OK.”
Davis was more than OK all night, finishing with 26 points as the Bloodhounds defeated Washington 57-45.
Fort Madison (13-5 overall, 7-2 Southeast Conference) bounced back with its second win after last Friday’s loss to conference leader Burlington, heading into Thursday’s game at Keokuk tied with the Chiefs for second place, one game out of the lead.
“We have goals,” Fort Madison coach Landon Bentley said. “(Winning) conference is one of them.”
“We did have a rough week of practice, and so we all just decided to come out and just give it our all, because the season’s almost over,” Davis said.
It was clear early that this was going to be a big night for Davis. She had 11 of Fort Madison’s 19 first-half points, then had 11 points in the Bloodhounds 21-5 run over the last 6:46 of the third quarter.

“That was big-time,” Bentley said. “She’s a first-team all-conference player. When she’s in a good rhythm, you get a good feeling about the game. I thought she competed hard. She played four quarters, and came back from that funny-bone bump. She’s just a really, really great player.”
Davis got most of her points inside, but also hit a 3-pointer in that third-quarter run that showed how much her game has expanded.
“I just catch and shoot,” Davis said. “No hesitation.”
Fort Madison had a hard time shaking the Demons — the two teams were tied at 19 at halftime, and then Washington had a 24-20 lead before the Bloodhounds went on their run.
“It was kind of like back and forth in the beginning, and we just decided we need to go on a run and just attack and keep doing what is successful,” Davis said.
“We made a defensive adjustment at halftime that didn't allow them to get downhill,” Bentley said. “We just made that adjustment and then it led into our offense. I'm a big believer that our defense leads to our offense.”
Reilynn Turnbull added 11 points for the Bloodhounds.
Rachel Sands had 14 points to lead Washington