A week ago, the Ankeny Centennial boys’ basketball team made a statement with a victory over defending Class 4A state champion Valley.
On Friday at Centennial, another CIML Conference contender made a statement of its own.
Top-ranked Waukee pulled away in the second half for a 70-51 win, holding the Jaguars to their lowest point total of the season. The Warriors improved to 6-0 in the league and 6-1 overall, while Centennial’s records dropped to 3-2 and 4-2.
“They’re a good basketball team. And we just didn’t knock down some shots that we normally do,” said Centennial coach Bob Fontana, whose team shot just 38.2 percent from the field (21-of-55).
The Jaguars trailed by just 28-24 at halftime, but Waukee then opened the second half with a 12-4 run. Centennial could get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
“It was anybody’s game at halftime, but then we had a real bad 4 minutes to start the third quarter,” Fontana said. “That was the difference in the game along with our inability to get to the free-throw line.”
Centennial attempted just six free throws, making three of them. Waukee was 10-of-13 at the charity stripe.
“They let us play,” Fontana said. “It was a physical game, but we just didn’t get to the line enough.”
The Warriors also capitalized on some of Centennial’s 12 turnovers.
“We didn’t turn it over a lot, but we had some live-ball turnovers in the second half that proved to be costly,” Fontana said. “We didn’t take care of the basketball and we gave up a wide-open 3, and the next thing you know you’re down by 12 (points).”
Mason Costello led four Waukee players in double figures with 19 points, going 3-for-5 from behind the arc. He also had nine rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Evan Jacobson had 13 points, eight boards, six assists and two blocks for the Warriors. Owen Schipper chipped in 12 points, and Jaden Rogers added 10.
Reserve Will Smith scored a career-high 12 points to lead the Jaguars. Nick Vaske and Luke Winkel each added 11.
Winkel was held to about half of his 22.8 average.
“They pressed us, but it didn’t bother us in the full court,” Fontana said. “Most of our turnovers were in the half court.”
Centennial will host another conference game against Ankeny (6-1) on Tuesday.
