Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: LJ Maehl of Fort Dodge shoots against Ames on Friday night. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

The short-handed Fort Dodge girls basketball team couldn’t slow Ames here on Friday, as the Little Cyclones used depth to their advantage in a 57-32 victory over the Dodgers.

The visitors got 23 points from their reserves to complete the season sweep. Ames (9-8 overall, 6-1 in the IAC North) had topped FDSH at home earlier this month, 56-45.

The depleted Dodgers (7-11, 2-6) dropped their third conference game in a row. Five of their players were in street clothes, and their bench was only able to muster two points.

That allowed the Little Cyclones’ defense to feast, as they hounded Fort Dodge leading scorer LJ Maehl with double and even triple teams and held the Dodgers to 11 total field goals.

“I can’t fault our effort,” FDSH head coach Scott Messerly said. “We had kids out there trying hard. We had a few of the younger, inexperienced ones doing what they could. It’s just tough to be down so many players against an opponent like this (Ames has held eight opponents to 35 points or less this season), because you know they’re going to get after it defensively.

“We caught them coming off a (double) overtime loss (at Mason City on Tuesday, their first IAC North setback this year), so we’d hoped they’d kind of have tired legs. But that also means you’re going to get their full attention.”

Senior Karsyn Pankonen and junior Natalya Deardorff had 10 points each to lead a balanced Little Cyclone attack, which also showed glimpses of the future in bursts. Freshmen Natalya Singh and Cassidy Wollner came off the bench and combined for 16 points on 7 of 8 shooting.

Ames substituted liberally to wear down the Dodgers, who used mostly a seven-player rotation. Maehl had a game-high 14 points, but it took her 20 shots to get there. Senior Brooklyn Pommer added six points, with senior Meah McCaleb and sophomore Bella Lee — in her first start — contributing four.

“We’ve just really strugged to execute offensively the last three times out (Fort Dodge had only 89 points combined in losses to Mason City, Marshalltown and the Little Cyclones),” Messerly said. “When we beat Waterloo East (62-49 at home 10 days ago), we had one of our better games offensively (27 baskets on 56 percent shooting).

“We have to work our way out of this funk together.”

The Dodgers continue their recent homestand with a contest on Monday against Urbandale (3-13) at 6:15 p.m. Fort Dodge then visits Storm Lake (10-7) on Thursday and Des Moines North (0-12) on Friday.

AMES 57, FORT DODGE 32

Ames — Karsyn Pankonen 5-11 0-0 10, Natalya Deardorff 4-8 2-4 10, Victoria Williams 3-6 1-2 8, Anisa Percival 1-4 2-2 4, Sophia Hatcher 1-3 0-0 2, Natalya Singh 4-5 0-0 8, Cassidy Wollner 3-3 0-0 8, Jada Britten 1-5 2-2 5, Cebilha Kateti 0-0 2-2 2, Elizabeth Lemer 0-3 0-0 0, Kiley Sodahl 0-1 0-0 0, Meredith Frandsen 0-0 0-0 0, Araya Anderson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-49 9-12 57.

Fort Dodge — LJ Maehl 4-20 6-6 14, Brooklyn Pommer 2-4 2-7 6, Meah McCaleb 2-8 0-1 4, Bella Lee 2-3 0-0 4, Ellie Doster 1-4 0-1 2, Linnie Pratt 0-0 2-2 2, Charlotte Breeser 0-2 0-0 0, Janelle Derrig 0-2 0-2 0, Emma Lloyd 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 11-46 10-19 32.

Quarter scores: Ames led 17-4, 28-10, 44-22. Three-point goals: Ames 4-17 (Wollner 2-2, Williams 1-2, Britten 1-5, Pankonen 0-3, Lemer 0-2, Hatcher 0-1, Deardorff 0-1, Sodahl 0-1). Turnovers: Ames 17, Fort Dodge 19. Total fouls: Ames 15, Fort Dodge 11.