The Ankeny boys’ basketball players had to wait 18 days to get back on the court after dropping a 57-50 decision to fourth-ranked Waukee Northwest on Dec. 17.
The layoff may have been a little too long.
The Hawks shook off some rust and pulled away in the second half to defeat visiting Fort Dodge, 64-46, on Tuesday. The Dodgers’ previous four losses had come by an average of 34.2 points.
“It was just tough sledding,” said Ankeny coach Brandt Carlson. “We didn’t shoot very well, and Fort Dodge did some things that worked to their advantage. Give them a lot of credit. They played really hard and kind of made us uncomfortable and really frustrated our guys. I just thought it was a good lesson for us to go through, and to still find a way to win is always the goal and we were able to do that. Our guys were tough in the second half, and they found their way through the experience.”
Lio Aguirre had a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds to lead Ankeny. Karson Wehde scored a career-high 14 points.
Wehde went 2-of-4 from 3-point range, but his teammates went a combined 0-for-9 from behind the arc.
“We didn’t take a lot of 3s overall,” Carlson said. “But Karson has been playing well. He defended their best player and held him to four points. He’s been a really solid player for us all year.”
Alex Aguirre and Ryan Crandall each had eight points for the Hawks, while Carson Johnson and JJ Kohl each added seven points and three assists. Kohl also had two steals and a block.
“Defensively, our effort was there, but we struggled with some things there, too,” Carlson said. “Two and a half weeks (off) is a long time. Sometimes you just don’t play well and you have to find a way to win.”
The Hawks made 18-of-24 free throws. Fort Dodge went just 3-for-11 at the line.
“We missed too many (foul shots)–especially front ends of one-and-ones,” Dodgers coach Willie Williams told the Fort Dodge Messenger. “When you’re on the road, you have to take advantage of (being at the charity stripe). If you don’t, it will come back to haunt you. And we missed too many good looks by the basket. I think we just got tired, started turning the ball over and forcing up shots. That’s on me to get us to a better level of (physical and mental) consistency.”
Monterius Altman-Abrams led Fort Dodge with 19 points. Javion Jondle added 11.
The Dodgers held a 12-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Ankeny took a 27-25 halftime advantage. The Hawks extended the margin to 44-33 after three periods.
Ankeny improved to 2-2 in the CIML Iowa Conference and 5-2 overall. Fort Dodge’s records dropped to 0-3 and 1-5.
The Hawks will travel to Mason City on Friday for another conference game against the Mohawks (2-6).
