FORT MADISON – Things were about as physical as they could get in a basketball game as the Fort Madison Lady Hounds opened their home season with a win Tuesday night over Davis County.
At one point, referee Jason Marlow had to jump in between Taylor Johnson and the Mustangs’ Laynee Moore who scuffled in the lane off a rebound.
But that intensity pushed the Hounds to a 47-37 non-conference win. It also resulted in both Johnson and Moore riding the bench for a few minutes.
Fort Madison Head Coach Landon Bentley said he appreciated the intensity, but then the Hounds got down to business.
“We bring intensity. I’m a defensive guy and my big thing is bring the intensity every possession. And when something doesn’t go our way, we move on,” he said after the game.
“We’re not going to dwell on that. It’s not us. We’re going to play hard. We’ll battle with ya, but we’re not going to be malicious - we’ll stay composed.”
Another hurdle the Hounds seem to have cleared is how well senior Irelynd Sargent would react to the reconstructed ligaments in her knee. Sargent blew out her knee last year diving for a ball headed out of bounds and had surgery to repair the damage. Wearing a knee brace, Sargent led the Hounds with 12 points and went to the free throw line 10 times slashing through the Mustangs’ physical man defense.
“I rehabbed the knee for about nine months, but I had no pain. I just haven’t been active forever. I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. Sometimes I cramp up a bit, but it’s just getting back in shape,” Sargent said.
In addition to the dozen points from the floor, Sargent also had several nifty assists off drives around the lane, including a nice bounce pass down low to Halle Menke who converted inside for a 33-22 lead with about four minutes left in the third period.
“I would much rather hit an open teammate than just throw something up there,” she said.
Menke finished with nine points, just one off a double-double, including a nice left-handed jumper from about 17 feet off the left key. Working mostly inside for the last two years, the jumper isn’t normally a shot Bentley wants out of the offense.
The shot came out of an offense the Hounds ran last year, after the first half saw a more inside/outside game working Johnson and Menke in the middle, while Aija Jenkins and Dayonna Davis worked the perimeter with Sargent.
“This was the first team we’ve run our new offense, but we have some things to work on in practice tomorrow. We had to put the old offense back in and that got us through the second half and worked well,” Bentley said.
Davis County would put a small 5-2 run together to open the fourth quarter, down 37-28, to cut the lead to six at 39-33. But Menke would score again inside and then Sargent got the dagger with a steal and layup with 2:59 left to put the game away for Fort Madison.
Jenkins had 10 points for Fort Madison while Johnson had eight and Davis finished with five.
The Hounds (2-0, 0-0) host Fairfield on Friday night in a boys/girls doubleheader at the Hound Dome with a 6 p.m. tip-off.
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