FORT MADISON - Hadley Wolfe hit her first 3-pointer 34 seconds into the game.
The last one came two minutes into the fourth quarter, and her Fort Madison teammates jumped off the bench in celebration, because they knew of the milestone it represented.
Wolfe hit nine 3-pointers, a program record, and finished with 29 points as the Bloodhounds won at Holy Trinity, 62-24, on Saturday afternoon.
It was the fourth consecutive win for the Bloodhounds (8-4) over an eight-day stretch.
“This is just us rallying through some tough times and just balling out,” Wolfe said. “We have some tough games coming up, so hopefully this prepares us for what’s coming.”
“It’s a special night all around,” said Fort Madison coach Landon Bentley.
Almost all of Wolfe’s shots came from the right side against Holy Trinity’s 1-3-1 defense.
“We didn't really think that those would be open, but they left the wings open in their 1-3-1, so we exposed that and took advantage of it,” Wolfe said.
“She recognized the open space they allowed in the 1-3-1,” Bentley said. “I have them look for a couple of different options in space. And she found it, and they kept letting her catch it there, open on a reversal. And she kept knocking them down.”
“Hadley Wolfe came out on fire,” Holy Trinity coach Shawn Hopper said.
Wolfe remembered an early-season shooting slump she faced. She came into the game shooting 29.6% in 3-pointers.
“I started the season off not shooting the best,” she said. “I was only like 10% (in 3-pointers) at one point, and now I'm starting to climb up. It just shows a lot of work that I put in through the off-season and everything.”
“I've talked a lot about her this year and last year, and seeing her benefit from the hard work she puts in,” Bentley said. “It's great for the younger girls to be able to look up to somebody like that and have her here in person to watch, going from being an honorable mention player to being a first-team all-district, first-team all-conference player, and really putting in the time of the offseason.
“She started off hot against Ottumwa (in the season opener) and kind of went into a small shooting slump. And there were times where she's like, ‘Do you want me to take that shot?’ And I had to remind her, ‘Any time they let you see the rim, you're taking it.’ And tonight you see that she's shooting with confidence. She's stroking it. And it's great to see it.”
Fort Madison started off with a 10-0 run and then, after Holy Trinity’s Elizabeth Griffin hit a 3-pointer with 4:46 left in the first quarter, went on an 11-0 run.
Holy Trinity (3-11) was playing its fourth game in six days, and the stretch had taken a toll on the Crusaders. Griffin, who led Holy Trinity with nine points, is battling a shoulder injury. The Crusaders also were without leading scorer Adalyn Kruse for most of the game after she was hit in the head by an elbow from another player and suffered a possible concussion.
“That’s the thing — (Kruse) has been hurt, Elizabeth has been hurt,” Hopper said. “I didn’t like how the game was called, it was too physical.”
Hopper challenged his team after Friday’s 60-26 loss at West Burlington.
“I was OK with our effort,” Hopper said. “I thought it was better than last night.”
It was also a record-setting night for Fort Madison’s Dayonna Davis, who picked up her 500th rebound and became the program’s all-time leading rebounder. Davis added 15 points.
“It’s been a big week,” Bentley said. “All three of our captains — Dayonna, Hadley and Halle Menke — all did some great things in our wins this week. Their leadership has been so important for us. We have a great culture here, and we need to keep building on what we did this week.”
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