—Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Fort Dodge’s Jalen Adams drives to the hoop against Marshalltown in the Dodger gym. For more photos, visit CU at messengernews.net

For nearly three quarters on Friday, many of the Fort Dodge girls basketball team’s year-long struggles were holding them back against Marshalltown.

Then the Dodgers came to life and showed signs of what they could be moving forward.

FDSH closed the game with an explosive 30-2 burst to turn a three-point game into a 57-26 rout of the Bobcats, completing the season sweep of its CIML Iowa Conference rival.

Junior Cheyenne Miller-Hameed was the catalyst, scoring 15 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter alone. The Dodgers (4-10 overall, 2-4 in the league) closed the third quarter with 13 unanswered points, then completely dominated the fourth period as well behind a flurry of forced turnovers and fast-break points.

“We really got things rolling when we were able to execute our full-court press,” Fort Dodge head coach Scott Messerly said. “That was the turning point. It had been a frustrating night up until that point; we were just kind of going through the motions. I think being off the last two days (due to weather) affected us. We were sluggish.

“It was good to see us play with more of a sense of urgency late. We started to hustle more and brought some energy that had been lacking.”

Sophomore guard Tory Bennett added 13 points for the Dodgers. Classmate Jalen Adams knocked down a trifecta of three-point baskets for nine points, while Aleaha Pommer finished with eight.

A Bennett bucket, back-to-back Adams triples, and a Pommer three-pointer pushed a tenuous three-point lead into a comfort zone at 38-24. Miller-Hameed then scored 17 consecutive FDSH points over the next eight minutes, and the Bobcats went without a single point in the final 5:29 of regulation.

“We didn’t have many defensive rebounds in the first half, and just couldn’t shake them until that stretch late in the third quarter,” Messerly said. “Cheyenne really got going, which was great to see. That’s big for her confidence. She has that potential, which is something we’ll need the rest of the way and into her senior year.”

Marshalltown committed 34 turnovers. The Dodgers had defeated the Bobcats last month as well, 56-37.

Fort Dodge returns to action on Monday for a make-up varsity contest at home against Mason City.

FORT DODGE 57, MARSHALLTOWN 26

Fort Dodge — Cheyenne Miller-Hameed 7-11 5-5 19, Tory Bennett 4-11 4-4 13, Aleaha Pommer 3-11 0-0 8, Tristin Doster 2-5 0-1 4, Haley Wills 1-4 0-0 2, Jalen Adams 3-8 0-0 9, Ellie White 1-5 0-2 2, Jebreauna Clark 0-1 0-0 0, Rachel Sporrer 0-1 0-0 0, Taelore Presswood 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-57 9-12 57.

Marshalltown — Gabby Himes 4-6 0-0 8, Priscila Vergara 3-3 0-0 6, Madison Finch 2-7 1-4 5, Lily Roberts 2-8 0-0 5, Erica Johnson 0-3 2-6 2, Olivia Brintnall 0-0 0-0 0, Avygail Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Emma Younkin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 11-29 3-11 26.

Quarter scores: Fort Dodge led 11-9, 21-15, 40-24. Three-point goals: Fort Dodge 6-16 (Adams 3-4, Pommer 2-4, Bennett 1-3, Miller-Hameed 0-3, White 0-2); Marshalltown 1-5 (Roberts 1-2, Finch 0-1, Brintnall 0-1, Smith 0-1). Turnovers: Fort Dodge 18, Marshalltown 34. Total fouls: Fort Dodge 16, Marshalltown 11.