‘We set the tone right off the bat’: Jaguars build big lead, roll past Iowa City Liberty

Ankeny Centennial’s Connor Welsch shoots a 3-pointer during Tuesday’s game against visiting Iowa City Liberty. Welsch scored 11 points to help the Jaguars to a 70-48 victory. (Photo courtesy of Jerrad Downer)

Coming off a tough loss on Friday at Dowling Catholic, the Ankeny Centennial boys’ basketball team got off to a fast start on Tuesday and never looked back.

The Jaguars jumped out to a 22-5 lead in the first quarter against visiting Iowa City Liberty, built a 45-17 halftime advantage and rolled to a 70-48 victory in a non-conference game.

“I thought we set the tone right off the bat on both ends of the floor,” said Centennial coach Bob Fontana, whose team improved to 2-1 overall. “I thought we were really good defensively from the get-go, and that led to some good offense on the other end. We were really connected defensively, especially in the first half.”

**Ankeny Centennial’s Nick Vaske sets up the Jaguars’ offense during Tuesday’s game. He finished with eight points. (Photo courtesy of Jerrad Downer)**

Liberty’s record dropped to 1-1. Fontana watched the Lightning open the season on Saturday with a 74-62 win at Clear Creek Amana.

“They hit 11 or 12 3-pointers in that game,” Fontana said. “I knew we were going to have to take away the 3 and be physical inside, and I thought we did a good job. They’ve got two bigs inside that are good and they’ve got some shooters, so to only give up 17 points at halftime, I was really happy with that.

“I thought our approach after a tough game at Dowling was really good,” he added.

**Ankeny Centennial’s Luke Winkel goes in for a layup during Tuesday’s game. He poured in 23 points for the Jaguars. (Photo courtesy of Jerrad Downer)**

Luke Winkel led the Jaguars with 23 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Connor Welsch chipped in 11 points, Chase Schutty had nine, Nick Vaske contributed eight, and Cabryn Klingner added seven.

“Everybody pitched in,” Fontana said. “We had 18 or 19 assists.”

Reserve Kael Jones grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds for Centennial, which won the battle of the boards by a 38-25 margin. Schutty had six rebounds.

**Ankeny Centennial coach Bob Fontana talks to his players during a timeout in Tuesday’s game. (Photo courtesy of Jerrad Downer)**

“To control the glass like that against a bigger team, I thought that was really impressive,” Fontana said.

The Jaguars will return to CIML Conference play on Friday when they host defending Class 4A state champion Valley. The Tigers are off to a 3-0 start behind junior Curtis Stinson, who is averaging 22 points per game.

“We’ve got to rebound, and we’ve got to keep them in front of us,” Fontana said. “They’re big and athletic, and we’ve got to keep them off the boards and stop them in transition.”