It’s no secret where the Ankeny Centennial boys’ basketball team needs to make the most progress over the holiday break.
It’s at the defensive end of the floor.
Fourth-ranked Waukee Northwest made 10-of-22 3-point attempts and rolled to an 80-58 victory over the visiting Jaguars on Tuesday. The Wolves moved into sole possession of first place in the CIML Iowa Conference, improving to 3-0 in the league and 6-1 overall.
Centennial’s records dropped to 2-1 and 3-3.
“It was just like the second half at Johnston,” said Centennial coach Bob Fontana, whose team dropped a 92-71 decision at Johnston on Dec. 14. “If we’re going to compete and give ourselves a chance to beat the best teams, we have got to shore up our defense. That’s what is going to win big games for you. I don’t feel we’re good enough to beat the top teams right now unless we get better on defense.”
Pryce Sandfort racked up 25 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks to lead Northwest. Grant Tigges had 19 points, going 5-for-7 from behind the arc.
Cade Kelderman chipped in 18 points for the Wolves. Henry Manning added 14.
“We saw (Northwest) against Des Moines Hoover, and they jumped out to a 22-0 lead in that game. They shot it tonight like they did against Hoover,” Fontana said. “Kelderman and Sandfort are a handful and they got their average, but you can’t let the other two guys get 19 and 14. We’ve just got to continue to work on our defense. It’s a process. It’s like I told our guys, ‘Getting good is not easy.'”
Caden Kelling and Chris Louis each had 13 points for Centennial. Kelling also had two assists and a steal.
Reece Robinson contributed 10 points. Chase Schutty grabbed five rebounds.
“We shot nearly 58 percent from the field (22-of-38) and 69 percent from the free-throw line (11-of-16), but we get beat by (22),” Fontana said. “I know I sound like a broken record, but we’ve just got to get better defensively. We’ve got to commit. It’s individually and collectively both.”
The Jaguars trailed by just one point, 14-13, after reserve guard Luke Winkel made a 3-pointer late in the first quarter. But Kelderman answered with his own trey, then drove for another basket to give Northwest a 19-13 advantage at the end of the period.
The Wolves then closed out the first half with an 18-5 run to build a 40-22 lead. Kelderman capped off the run with five more points on another 3-pointer and a drive to the basket.
Centennial could get no closer than 14 points the rest of the way.
“We stayed positive with the kids,” Fontana said. “We just told them the things that we need to work on to get better.”
The Jaguars will host a rematch against Northwest on Jan. 4, then will have two more home games against No. 1 Ames on Jan. 7 and Ankeny on Jan. 11.
“It’ll be like playing in the state tournament with those three games,” Fontana said.
