On a night when the shots weren’t falling at a high rate for the Ankeny Centennial girls’ basketball team, the Jaguars found other ways to dominate their opponent.
Fifth-ranked Centennial racked up a 48-19 rebounding advantage and also forced 26 turnovers en route to a 75-33 victory at Urbandale in its CIML Conference opener on Tuesday.
The Jaguars improved to 3-0 on the season despite shooting just 39.4 percent from the field (28-of-71).
“Our defense got us going early in the game as we forced 17 first-half turnovers,” said Centennial coach Scott DeJong. “We didn’t shoot great the first half, but the defense helped. Lizzie Beam was big off the bench with eight first-half points and aggressive defense.”
Centennial held a 32-24 lead at halftime. The Jaguars then broke the game open by outscoring Urbandale, 43-9, in the final two quarters.
Mya Crawford had a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. She also had four assists and four steals.
Jaeden Pratt contributed 13 points and eight rebounds. Beam added 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.
“Our shooting was better the second half,” DeJong said. “Mya led us by scoring in a variety of ways, and Jaeden was also in double figures despite limited minutes due to fouls.”
Lauren Salmon led Urbandale (1-2) with eight points and seven rebounds.
The Jaguars will travel to Dowling Catholic on Friday for another conference game against the No. 3 Maroons (1-2). Dowling opened league play on Tuesday with a 55-42 loss to No. 7 Valley.
