The winning streak for the Ankeny Centennial girls’ basketball team has reached double digits.
The third-ranked Jaguars rolled to their 10th straight victory with a 59-6 win over visiting Marshalltown on Thursday. It was their second triumph over the Bobcats in the last seven days after posting a 66-23 victory at Marshalltown on Friday.
Centennial improved to 9-1 in the CIML Iowa Conference and 16-2 overall. The Bobcats’ records dropped to 1-10 and 1-19 with their ninth consecutive loss.
“I thought we came out and took care of business,” said Centennial coach Scott DeJong. “We just play a different way than a lot of people, especially against the teams at this level. We’re not trapping (on defense), and we’re patient on offense and that keeps the score down a little bit. But anytime you hold a team to six points, your defense is really good.”
It marked the third time in school history that Centennial allowed just six points. The other two times also came against Marshalltown in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons.
Kennedy White led the Jaguars with 14 points, going 6-for-6 at the free-throw line. As a team, Centennial went 18-of-21 at the charity stripe.
The Jaguars were making just 63.9 percent of their free throws going into the game.
“We shot the ball really well, and that’s good because we haven’t shot the ball so well from the line,” DeJong said. “Going into the tournaments, that’s going to be huge.”
Cleao Murray had 13 points and six rebounds in the win. She made back-to-back 3-point goals late in the first half to help the Jaguars to a 41-4 halftime advantage.
“I thought our offense started a little slow, but for most of the first half it was pretty good,” DeJong said.
Jaeden Pratt contributed 12 points and one block. She went 7-for-10 at the line.
“Her energy and her presence on the floor was good to see,” DeJong said of Pratt.
Averi Porter chipped in 11 points. Makenna Clark dished out three assists.
Centennial will play at Ames (3-15) on Friday. A win would clinch at least a share of the conference title for the Jaguars.
“We still have a lot to play for,” DeJong said.
