Perhaps nobody was more excited to have Savannah Gage back on the court than her Ankeny girls’ basketball teammate Jayla Williams.
Williams poured in a career-high 32 points, Gage chipped in 10 in her first start of the season, and the eighth-ranked Hawkettes posted a 62-56 victory at No. 11 Southeast Polk on Tuesday for their first win over the Rams since 2012.
“It was really good to have her back,” Williams said of Gage, who tore the ACL in her left knee on April 1 and had not played in the first four games. “I got a little emotional at the beginning, because she’s been through a lot. She has worked so hard to get back to where she was, and she came out and played amazing.”
Williams stole the spotlight, though, with a dominant performance. She scored 23 points in the first half alone, including a 3-point goal at the buzzer that gave her team a 40-28 lead at halftime.
“Jayla has worked so hard, and I’m so proud of her,” Gage said. “She’s really brought so much to this team. She just brings so much energy and athleticism. It’s really fun playing with her.”
The Hawkettes took their biggest lead, 54-32, on a 3-pointer by Ainsley Kiene midway through the third quarter. But Southeast Polk refused to go away quietly.
The Rams closed the gap to 55-39 after three quarters, then used a 13-0 run in the final period to pull within 57-54 on a basket by Zoe Hinze with 3 minutes 6 seconds left.
“We need to work on holding a lead for sure, but we’ve kind of been in the other spot with that a couple times this season, but we’ll work on that and try to maintain those leads moving forward,” said Ankeny coach Nate Tobey.
Ankeny eventually sealed the win by making 5-of-8 free throws in the final 2:12. Gage connected on 3-of-4 attempts down the stretch.
“It feels good to be back playing with everybody again,” Gage said. “There’s not a better feeling.”
The Hawkettes improved to 1-2 in the CIML Conference and 3-2 overall. Southeast Polk’s records dropped to 0-2 and 3-2.
The Rams had won the last 18 meetings against Ankeny–all but two of them by double digits.
“Since the split (into two high schools), we haven’t beaten them,” said Williams, who also had seven rebounds and four steals. “I think the first half I came out really strong. I wanted to keep shooting if I was open. It felt good.”
Williams had 11 points in the first quarter as Ankeny jumped out to a 23-4 lead. She twice converted steals into easy layups.
“She’s just all over the place,” Tobey said of Williams. “She’s so active and energetic, and she was so excited to have Savannah back–she’s one of her biggest supporters and I think she was playing in large part for her tonight. She’s just put so much work into her game, and she continues to show it.”
Williams scored nine consecutive Ankeny points in the second quarter before Gage made a 3-pointer to extend the Hawkettes’ lead to 37-26 with 50 seconds left in the half.
“It’s been a long process, but I had a lot of support going through (rehab) from my coaches, teammates and family. I’m really blessed,” said Gage, who also contributed two blocks. “I know I’m not going to be just as good right away, but I’m working toward that and I’m just really happy with our win tonight. I think we battled really well.”
Kiene finished with 13 points and also had five steals for the Hawkettes. Karsen Jacks dished out eight assists.
Hinze led Southeast Polk with 16 points. Alyssa Bartlett racked up 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals, but she went just 4-of-15 from field and had eight turnovers.
The Rams shot just 13.3 percent from 3-point range (2-of-15). Bartlett missed a pair of treys in the final minute, including one that could have cut the Ankeny lead to a single point.
“That was great,” Tobey said. “Any win we can get in this league is huge for us, especially against a great team like that.”
The Hawkettes will host a non-conference game against Ames (3-3) on Friday.
