Rested Lady Hounds get matinee win

DONNELLSON – Fort Madison looked fully rested and ready for the second half of the season as they rolled Central Lee 62-44 in a Saturday matinee at Central Lee High School.
Hadley Wolfe put up 24 points as Fort Madison improved to 5-3 on the year.
The Lady Hounds opened up a strong first quarter lead highlighted by some pressure defense and a 3-ball from Charlie Huebner that equated to a 17-7 first quarter lead. Fort Madison then held Central Lee scoreless for about five minutes of the second quarter as they opened up a 38-17 lead at the break.
Central Lee started to turn things around after the break, going on a 7-2 run to open the third quarter and cut the lead to 15 at 45-30 on a bucket fade away 10-foot jumper just outside the lane by Taylor Jones. Jones had seven of her 12 in the third period.
But that’s as close as the Lady Hawks would get the rest of the night as Fort Madison Head Coach Landon Bentley worked in the bench getting all 12 players into the game. He credited the quick start to the Hounds' success.
“When Charlie comes down and hits a 3, that’s good for our team confidence. Hadley shot the ball well today, Dayonna shot the ball well,” he said.
“We’ve needed that. We’ve had a couple tough conference losses. I think we’re building some confidence with the girls and they’re hungry right now. Maybe taking those on the chin early is creating a bigger comeback.”
Senior Halle Menke scored just four first-half points from the point position but found herself in foul trouble in the second half. Bentley said Menke has been struggling with some illness the past week.
“She gets a pass this week. She hasn’t been at practice all week with the flu. She just came back today. Yeah, she was late on some rotations and they were good calls, but she’s averaging close to three blocks a game, so I want her aggressive in there.”
Dayonna Davis finished with 16 points for the Hounds, creating a nice 1-2 structure for Bentley when combined with Wolfe’s 24. Reiburn Turnbull added six.

Kenna Sandoval again led the Hawks with a very quiet 13 points. She’s averaging close to 20 an outing and is the team’s leading rebounder while playing against typically larger posts in the paint.
Central Lee Head Coach Taylor Hickey said she expected a little more from the Hawks even considering the tough win Friday night at Holy Trinity.
“Even though we played a hard game on Friday, I told them we could come back and play well today,” she said.
“I felt like we looked solid, but we just aren’t shooting. In the game of basketball, you have to shoot if you want to win. It creates action around us and leads to good things. I actually said in a break that if I saw a girl pass up another open shot, they were coming out.”
Hickey said she saw good things in the third quarter, but the Hawks just couldn’t get a stop.
“It comes down to those moments of stop-score-stop. And if we don’t get a score, we just have to get a stop.”
Bentley said Wolfe is proving to be a leader who plays consistent basketball winning or losing, and that’s something others can learn from.
“If a kid is reading this who I’ll coach someday, if you're noticing her and what’s she’s doing, it’s not magic. She puts in the work. She is the hardest worker we have on the team.
"She’s not the loudest but her actions do her speaking for her.”
Bentley said the Lady Hounds need to rebound better in the second half of the season.
“We need to rebound a little better. Keep others off the offensive glass, and other than that, I thought we played a put-together ballgame with 12 players and mixed up different defenses.”