The Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial boys’ basketball teams could see some familiar opponents in substate play.
The Iowa High School Athletic Association announced its postseason assignments on Friday. The eighth-ranked Hawks (12-2) have been placed in Class 4A Substate 1, while the Jaguars (9-6) have been placed in Substate 2.
Ankeny will be joined in Substate 1 by Council Bluffs Jefferson (1-15), No. 10 Sioux City East (12-3), Sioux City North (1-16), Sioux City West (4-8) and Waukee (9-7).
The Hawks lost to Waukee in last year’s substate final. Waukee went on to win the state title, but the school was then split into two programs with the opening of Waukee Northwest.
Ankeny rallied to beat Sioux City East in a substate final in 2020. The Hawks went on to capture the state championship.
Centennial will be joined in Substate 2 by No. 1 Ames (12-1). The other teams in that bracket will be Des Moines Lincoln (9-5), Des Moines Hoover (8-6), Fort Dodge (1-13) and Mason City (3-13).
“It’s almost the exact same substate as last year,” said Centennial coach Bob Fontana, whose team lost to Ames in the substate final. “The only difference is they flipped Indianola for Mason City. The other five teams are the same.”
Eight teams from each class advance to the state tournament set for March 7-11 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. First-round substate games begin on Feb. 21.
Pairings for all classes will be available in February following coaches’ seeding meetings.
“The CIML could have five teams at state,” Fontana said. “That shows you the strength and the depth of our league.”