Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Meah McCaleb of Fort Dodge puts up a shot against Urbandale on Monday in the Dodger gym.

Scott Messerly tried to find the right word here Monday night following a 45-36 loss to Urbandale for his Fort Dodge girls.

“Maybe a lack of urgency,” Messerly said. “I’m not really sure. We didn’t play with a lot of intensity. When we did run a few set plays, they worked out, but we just never got into much of a rhythm.

“Credit Urbandale, because that 1-3-1 really caused us problems. We don’t see it much and it’s difficult to simulate in practice, especially with the length they have.”

The Dodgers (10-7 overall) committed 29 turnovers, including 16 in the first half, as the J-Hawks (5-14) got out to an early lead and never looked back.

Devon Carlile led the way for Urbandale with 13 points, sinking three first quarter 3-pointers. She also had four of the 17 steals for the J-Hawks, while Taylor Mulligan added 12 points and five steals.

Fort Dodge was led by LJ Maehl, as the freshman scored 12 points. Lainey Maehl added eight points and four rebounds, while Paytene Hiveley had four points, seven boards and two steals.

“I thought Urbandale did a really good job of bumping our bigs,” Messerly said. “It just kind of caused problems for us and we never adjusted. They are a very physical team and they made it difficult for us to get the ball where we wanted it.

“It was just kind of one of those nights where nothing seemed to work very well.”

The J-Hawks have played one of the toughest schedules in Class 5A, with recent games against Waukee, No. 8 Southeast Polk, seventh-ranked West Des Moines Valley and defending state champion No. 2 Johnston on the resume.

Carlile and Mulligan scored all 15 of Urbandale’s points in the opening eight minutes, as they went a combined 6-for-9 from the floor. Fort Dodge was just 2 of 6 in the first quarter and 7 of 17 in the opening half shooting.

The Dodgers were able to cut the deficit from seven down to three with under five to go in the third, but would get no closer.

“I thought we got some good minutes off the bench again from Ashlyn (Wills) and Morgan (Bodholdt),” Messerly said. “It feels like we can always expect that out of those two.”

Fort Dodge heads to 15th-ranked Des Moines North on Tuesday before returning home to face Marshalltown on Friday.

URBANDALE 45, FORT DODGE 36

Fort Dodge — Mackenzie McIlrath 0-3 0-0 0, LJ Maehl 5-10 1-2 12, Meah McCaleb 3-7 0-0 7, Paytene Hiveley 2-3 0-0 4, Lainey Maehl 4-8 0-0 8, Ashlyn Wills 0-1 0-0 0, Morgan Bodholdt 1-2 0-0 3, Edyn Witham 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-33 1-2 36.

Urbandale — Devon Carlile 4-11 1-1 13, Taylor Mulligan 4-4 4-5 12, Maria Long 1-4 0-0 2, Dharma Woodruff 1-4 2-2 4, Bri Tigges 2-7 1-2 5, Ela Tabakovic 1-4 2-4 4, Maddy Stutler 1-4 0-0 3, Delaney Peterson 0-0 0-0 0, Lauren Salmon 1-4 2-2 4, Alexandra King 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 15-42 12-16 45.

Quarter scores: Urbandale led 15-7, 24-19, 38-27. Three-point goals: Fort Dodge 3-11 (McIlrath 0-1, LJ Maehl 1-5, McCaleb 1-2, La. Maehl 0-2, Bodholdt 1-1), Urbandale 5-10 (Carlile 4-7, Stutler 1-2). Total rebounds: Fort Dodge 22, Urbandale 26. Steals: Fort Dodge 13, Urbandale 17. Blocked shots: Fort Dodge 2, Urbandale 0. Team fouls: Fort Dodge 16, Urbandale 15. Turnovers: Fort Dodge 29, Urbandale 21.