Rematch against Northwest begins big week for Centennial basketball teams

Ankeny Centennial’s Makenna Clark (No. 11) is congratulated by teammates Kennedy White (left) and Cleao Murray after scoring a basket while being fouled during the Jaguars’ loss at Waukee Northwest on Dec. 21. Centennial will host a rematch against the Wolves on Tuesday. (Photo by Dan Holm)

The race for the CIML Iowa Conference basketball titles will resume this week with some big matchups, highlighted by Tuesday’s rematch between host Ankeny Centennial and Waukee Northwest.

Prior to the holiday break, Northwest swept a doubleheader against the visiting Jaguars on Dec. 21. The 10th-ranked Wolves posted a 45-39 victory over No. 5 Centennial in the girls’ game before No. 4 Northwest cruised to an 80-58 triumph in the boys’ contest.

The Jaguars dropped to No. 7 in the latest girls’ rankings while Northwest–which had lost at Ankeny on Dec. 17–is now 11th. The Hawkettes, the lone remaining unbeaten team in conference play, moved up from 15th to ninth in the latest rankings.

Ankeny has a chance to improve to 5-0 in league play with wins over Fort Dodge and Mason City this week. That makes Tuesday’s game at Centennial all the more important for the Jaguars, who need to avoid a second conference loss prior to hosting a showdown against the Hawkettes on Jan. 11.

This is also a huge week for the Centennial boys’ squad, which will open the January portion of its schedule by playing two of the top four teams in Class 4A. Following Tuesday’s game against Northwest, the Jaguars will then host No. 1 Ames on Friday.

Centennial probably needs to pull off at least one upset in order to stay alive in the conference race. Ankeny, meanwhile, likely needs to sweep both Fort Dodge and Mason City to keep its title hopes alive–because the Hawks have already lost their first meetings against Ames and Northwest.

Here are the current Iowa Conference standings and the upcoming schedule:

GIRLS

Ankeny 3-0 6-2

Waukee Northwest 3-1 6-3

Ankeny Centennial 2-1 6-2

Fort Dodge 2-1 3-5

Mason City 2-2 4-5

Marshalltown 0-3 0-10

Ames 0-4 0-9

Monday’s game

Mason City at Waukee Northwest

Tuesday’s games

Fort Dodge at Ankeny

Marshalltown at Ames

Waukee Northwest at Ankeny Centennial

Friday’s games

Ames at Ankeny Centennial

Ankeny at Mason City

Waukee Northwest at Fort Dodge

Saturday’s games

Ankeny at Des Moines East

Mason City at Des Moines Hoover

**Ankeny’s Carson Johnson drives to the basket during the Hawks’ victory over visiting Marshalltown on Dec. 10. Ankeny will host Fort Dodge on Tuesday. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)**

BOYS

Waukee Northwest 3-0 6-1

Ames 2-0 5-1

Ankeny Centennial 2-1 3-3

Ankeny 1-2 4-2

Marshalltown 1-2 5-3

Mason City 1-3 2-5

Fort Dodge 0-2 1-4