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No. 4 Waukee too much for FD girls

-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Nicole Guerin of Fort Dodge shoots over Waukee Peyton Kelderman on Friday

The Fort Dodge girls basketball team could use fourth-ranked Waukee as the blueprint for where their program hopes to be someday.

Not necessarily from a depth or even a talent point of view, given the size differential between the two schools. More the pinpoint execution and relentless hustle of a championship contender, which was on full display as the Warriors dominated from start to finish in a 78-18 victory over the Dodgers here Friday.

Seniors Anna Brown and Paityn Rau put on an upperclassman show in a contest otherwise taken over by sophomores and freshmen. Brown scored 27 points without missing a single shot, and the 6-foot-2 Rau added 20 as Waukee (3-1 overall) rebounded from a 49-41 loss at No. 3 Johnston on Tuesday.

“They do the big things well because of how much size and athleticism they have, but they also really take care of the little things,” FDSH head coach Scott Messerly said. “They worked hard to get open, made the extra pass, fed the post, and kept after us on defense.

“That’s what we need to focus on right now — the stuff we can control, the effort-related (parts of the game). We got caught flat-footed trying to rebound, we didn’t come up to meet the pass … I just thought from an intensity standpoint, they got after it more than we did. And if we want to compete in this league, that has to change.”

Brown, a 5-10 guard who has signed with Loyola-Chicago, made all 10 of her field goal attempts, including five three-point baskets. She only had five points when she picked up her third foul midway through the second quarter, but returned to the court with less than two minutes left in the half and proceeded to score 22 points in the next eight minutes and seven seconds of court time.

Rau, a Northwest Missouri State recruit, had her way on the low blocks. She made 9 of her 13 attempts and reached double digits in rebounds.

“On our very best day, we couldn’t match up with seniors of that caliber right now,” Messerly said. “But that doesn’t mean we have to get out-worked. We’re learning … it’s just the mental mistakes that need to go when (the droughts) really start to snowball on us against these Top-10 teams.”

The Dodgers turned the ball over 27 times, compared to just seven for the Warriors in the CIML Iowa Conference opener for both schools. Waukee had more baskets (30) than FDSH had shot attempts (25).

Messerly’s squad did play the Warriors to a 7-7 draw in the final quarter, when 6-foot-2 senior Kacee Gollob — checking in for the first time this season — had a bucket, as did junior Nicole Guerin. Sophomore Jacy Daniel swished a pair of free throws, and classmate Jebreauna Clark split a pair of attempts at the charity stripe.

Freshman Tory Bennett knocked down a second quarter three-pointer. Eight different Dodgers scored.

Fort Dodge, which has faced four ranked opponents in its first six games, hits the road next week for contests at Des Moines Hoover (1-6) and Marshalltown (1-5).

WAUKEE 78, FORT DODGE 18

Waukee — Anna Brown 10-10 2-2 27, Paityn Rau 9-13 2-2 20, Lindsdey Kelderman 3-5 0-0 8, Katie Dinnebier 3-7 1-2 7, Kat Moody 2-6 0-0 4, Megan Earney 1-4 3-3 5, Taryn Reitsma 1-3 3-4 5, Peyton Kelderman 1-6 0-0 2, Abigail Jones 0-5 0-0 0, Reagan Bartholomew 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 30-61 11-13 78.

Fort Dodge — Cheyenne Miller-Hameed 2-9 0-0 4, Tory Bennett 1-1 0-0 3, Jalen Adams 1-5 0-0 2, Tristin Doster 1-3 0-0 2, Jebreauna Clark 0-1 1-2 1, Jacy Daniel 0-1 2-2 2, Kacee Gollob 1-1 0-0 2, Nicole Guerin 1-2 0-0 2, Tatum Lundberg 0-1 0-0 0, Aleaha Pommer 0-1 0-0 0, Ellie White 0-0 0-0 0, Haley Wills 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 7-25 3-4 18.

Quarter scores: Waukee led 26-2, 49-9, 71-11. Three-point goals: Waukee 7-20 (Brown 5-5, L. Kelderman 2-4, Dinnebier 0-3, Jones 0-4, P. Kelderman 0-2, Bartholomew 0-2); Fort Dodge 1-9 (Bennett 1-1, Adams 0-4, Clark 0-1, Miller-Hameed 0-1, Daniel 0-1, Lundberg 0-1). Turnovers: Waukee 7, Fort Dodge 27. Total fouls: Waukee 12, Fort Dodge 12.

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