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‘We just didn’t convert’: Hawkettes held to season-low total in loss at Dowling

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Ankeny’s Karsen Jacks tries to maneuver around Dowling Catholic defender Ellie Muller during Friday’s game at Dowling. Jacks scored 11 points in the Hawkettes’ 55-38 loss. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

The Ankeny girls’ basketball team ran into a defensive wall in its game on Friday at Dowling Catholic.

The eighth-ranked Hawkettes were held to a season-low offensive output and dropped a 55-38 decision to No. 4 Dowling, which snapped Ankeny’s four-game winning streak.

“I felt like we were getting good looks, but we just didn’t convert,” said Ankeny coach Nate Tobey, whose team had been averaging nearly 64 points per game. “Just (Dowling’s) defensive pressure and length was a big part of that.”

The Maroons held Ankeny’s top two scorers, Jayla Williams and Savannah Gage, to a combined 10 points. Ellie Muller, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, had 13 points and was also a defensive menace for Dowling, grabbing 13 rebounds and blocking two shots.

“She’s really good in the paint, so we just have to make some adjustments and figure some things out for the next time we play them,” Ankeny guard Karsen Jacks said of Muller.

Ankeny’s Jayla Williams grabs a rebound away from Dowling Catholic’s Ava Zediker during Friday’s game. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

Jacks and Ainsley Kiene each had 11 points to lead the Hawkettes, who dropped to 2-3 in the CIML Conference and 6-3 overall. Williams added eight, marking the first time she failed to reach double figures this season.

Layla Trytten had 17 points to pace the Maroons, who raised their records to 4-2 and 5-3. Ava Zediker chipped in 11.

Ankeny’s Ainsley Kiene shoots a 3-pointer during Friday’s game. Kiene finished with 11 points for the Hawkettes. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

“We had a few defensive slips,” Jacks said. “Altogether, that falls on me as a senior. We just have to communicate better, but we’ll be better for the next game.”

Trytten made 5-of-7 3-point goals, including one in the first quarter that broke a 6-6 tie and put Dowling ahead to stay. The Maroons went on to build a 30-17 halftime advantage.

Trytten then connected on back-to-back treys early in the third period to increase Dowling’s lead to 39-19. Ankeny, which went 0-for-2 at the free-throw line, could get no closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

“They had a lot of people knock down corner 3s tonight, and that’s really hard to cover when you’re trying to help on Zediker,” Tobey said. “She’s great at finding her teammates.”

Ankeny coach Nate Tobey talks to his team during a timeout in Friday’s game. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

The two teams will meet again on Jan. 23 at Ankeny.

“We’re not the biggest team, so we have to figure out how to guard the bigger teams,” Jacks said.

Ankeny will travel across town on Tuesday for another conference game against No. 6 Ankeny Centennial (3-4).