Kruse goes for 31 as Lady Hounds win

FORT MADISON - The Lady Hounds seem to be firing on all cylinders at the outset of the 2022-23 season.

Senior Camille Kruse lit up Danville for 31 points Monday night as Fort Madison rolled to a 66-41 win at the Hound Dome.

The Bloodhounds are regularly running an 8-girl rotation which provides for fresh legs and energy that leads to tenacious defense.

The Hounds opened a 19-15 first quarter lead with  Kruse accounting for 12. She would add eight in the second quarter as Fort Madison pushed the lead to 9 at 34-25 at the end of the first half.

Kruse now has 73 points on the year and is averaging just over 18 points a game.

Danville cut the lead to two in the second period in the middle of a 6-0 run where the Lady Hounds were held scoreless for four minutes.

But the Hounds would turn the table in the final three minutes going on a 9-2 run to end the half.

Fort Madison would push the lead to as much as 12 in the third period with a 44-32 lead and would pull away from there.

Senior Molly Knipe added two 3-balls in the fourth quarter to propel the Hounds to the win. Knipe finished with seven. Aija Jenkins had 11 and Taylor Johnson had seven for the Lady Hounds.

Irelynd Sargent had seven board and seven steals for the Hounds.

Fort Madison (4-0, 1-0) travels to Fairfield (0-4, 0-1) on Friday night in a junior varsity/varsity doubleheader.