When Ankeny Centennial’s Jaeden Pratt went to the bench with her third foul during the first half of Friday’s game against visiting Waukee, the CIML Conference girls’ basketball contest started to slip away from the sixth-ranked Jaguars.
No. 5 Waukee extended its lead to 27-18 at halftime and went on to post a 51-37 victory over Centennial, which has now lost four consecutive games for the first time in program history.
“We need Jaeden on the floor at all times,” Centennial coach Scott DeJong said of the Illinois State recruit. “It wasn’t her fault, but she had a couple of silly fouls. She’s a go-getter, and you’ve got to live with those with her.”
The Jaguars still trailed by nine points, 42-33, at the end of the third quarter. Any chance for a late rally disappeared in the final 8 minutes, when Centennial was held to just four points.
“We just didn’t shoot well,” said DeJong, whose team shot 30.4 percent from the field (14-of-46). “We turned them over 19 times, which is good because they’ve got a lot of good guards. But they shot the ball really well, and we didn’t. And that’s kind of been the story of our season so far.”
Mya Crawford scored 14 points and had four steals while Pratt added 10 points for Centennial, which has averaged just 33 points during its losing streak. The Jaguars, who got seven rebounds from Kylin Smith, dropped to 1-4 in the conference and 3-4 overall.
Waukee, which has five players averaging between 9.0 and 13.4 points, improved its records to 5-1 and 7-1. The Warriors moved into sole possession of second place behind No. 1 Johnston.
“Waukee played great,” DeJong said. “They shot 55 percent. They’re very balanced, and they were hitting 3-pointers and posting us up and taking the ball to the basket. They’re very skilled, and they’re a very good team.”
After losing to four opponents ranked among the top six squads in Class 5A, Centennial will face another big challenge on Saturday. The Jaguars will play No. 3 Davenport North (6-2) in the 2023 Winter Tip-off Classic at Johnston at 5 p.m.
The Wildcats boast two of the state’s top players in juniors Divine Bourrage and Journey Houston, who are combining for more than 40 points per game.
“I thought we were tired tonight,” DeJong said. “It was a really hard-fought game and now we have Davenport North (Saturday). It’s tough. But the schedule is what it is, and we just need to keep plugging away.”
