-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Dakota Pommer of Fort Dodge shoots around Des Moines East Lauren Ziaty on Monday

Hit with multiple rounds of bad news lately, the Fort Dodge girls basketball team was more than happy to welcome the ray of sunshine Monday’s game against Des Moines East provided on their home court.

The short-handed Dodgers licked their wounds and took out their frustration on the Scarlets, dominating from start to finish in a 71-18 drubbing to pull back to the break-even mark on the season.

Sophomore LJ Maehl scored 24 points, classmate Dakota Pommer added 16 and senior Mackenzie McIlrath 13 for FDSH, which pitched a first-period shutout and never looked back. The Dodgers (7-7 overall) put the clamps down on East (1-11), allowing only eight made field goals and zero free-throw attempts.

“This was big for our confidence. It’s nice to get back on track,” said Fort Dodge head coach Scott Messerly, who saw his group drop four of five recently and lose players Meah McCaleb and Maddie Hoshaw to season-ending injuries. “When you’re going into a game like this, you want to make sure you don’t take a step backward — even in a big win. I thought in the second half especially, we shared the ball well, kept our turnover count down, and got meaningful minutes from almost everyone.

“You have to control what you can, and dictate the energy you bring to the table. It’s easy to coast in a situation like this, and fortunately, we avoided any sense of a letdown.”

The Dodgers led 18-0 at the end of the first quarter, and the Scarlets didn’t score a point for the first 10-plus minutes of action while turning the ball over 14 times during that drought. Maehl had 19 of her points before halftime, scoring in a variety of ways around the basket. McIlrath followed with 11 before the break.

The continuous clock rule was in effect for the entire second half after a three-point basket by Pommer to start the third period. Most of the starters playing sparringly from midway through the third period on.

“I liked the minutes our bench gave us,” Messerly said. “(Senior) Destinee (Phillips) came in and played hard. She’s only (5-feet tall), but she was battling for rebounds and giving us everything she had.

“LJ, Dakota and Mackenzie did a nice job offensively, and Brooklyn (Pommer) had a ton of rebounds and steals. She was everywhere.”

Fort Dodge committed a season-low nine turnovers.

East’s leading scorer, freshman Asia Thompson, had 11 points. It took her 24 shots to get there, though.

The Dodgers head to Storm Lake on Thursday before facing Waterloo East at home on Friday.

FORT DODGE 71, DM EAST 18

Fort Dodge — LJ Maehl 11-22 1-2 24, Dakota Pommer 7-12 0-1 16, Mackenzie McIlrath 4-11 3-6 13, Brooklyn Pommer 3-6 2-2 8, Ashlyn Wills 1-3 1-2 3, Addison Lentsch 2-4 0-0 5, Janelle Derrig 1-1 0-2 2, Ellie Doster 0-3 0-0 0, Destinee Phillips 0-1 0-0 0, Bella Lee 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 29-64 7-15 71.

Des Moines East — Asia Thompson 5-24 0-0 11, Kate Stemsrud 2-5 0-0 5, Tabitha Hochmuth 0-2 0-0 0, Araceli Aguilar 0-3 0-0 0, Lauren Ziaty 0-1 0-0 0, Brooklyn Smith 1-3 0-0 2, Jaleeyah Hardy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 8-39 0-0 18.

Quarter scores: Fort Dodge led 18-0, 42-9, 58-13. Three-point goals: Fort Dodge 6-21 (McIlrath 2-4, D. Pommer 2-5, Maehl 1-6, Lentsch 1-2, Doster 0-2, Lee 0-1, B. Pommer 0-1); East 2-11 (Thompson 1-7, Stemsrud 1-3, Aguilar 0-1). Turnovers: Fort Dodge 9, East 29. Total fouls: Fort Dodge 6, East 10.