An unlikely hero emerged for the Ankeny Centennial boys’ basketball team on Tuesday.
Junior Cabryn Klingner made a 3-point goal to give the Jaguars a 53-51 lead over visiting Ankeny with 3 minutes 20 seconds left to play in a CIML Conference game. It was Klingner’s only basket of the night, but it sparked a 14-1 run that allowed Centennial to pull away for a 64-52 victory over the Hawks.
“I thought our kids kept their composure when (Luke) Winkel picked up his fourth foul (with 6:02 remaining and left the game),” said Centennial coach Bob Fontana. “I told our guys during the timeout, ‘Hey, we’ve practiced this.’ I thought our two juniors, Will (Smith) and Cab, made some big plays.”
Winkel returned to the court 10 seconds later as Ankeny’s Rio Aguirre made the second of two free throws to cut the Jaguars’ advantage to 53-52. The Hawks never scored again.
“Centennial is really good and Winkel is great, and it took a lot of effort to try to wear him out,” said Ankeny coach Brandt Carlson. “I thought we had him worn out and he had fouls, but we couldn’t take advantage during that little stretch (when he was out). It was tough.”
After Winkel returned, he converted a 3-point play with 1:45 to go to extend the Jaguars’ lead to 56-52. He then swished a 3-pointer with just under a minute left, essentially sealing the win.
“I know Fontana mentioned that substate seedings are starting soon so even on top of this being a rivalry game it was extra important to win this one,” Winkel said.
Winkel finished with 30 points, marking the second time in the last three games against Ankeny that he has reached that mark. Most of his points came on drives to the basket.
“I would have liked to shoot the 3 better and obviously not miss any free throws, but I mean, it’s basketball so it’s going to happen,” Winkel said.
Nick Vaske had 11 points for Centennial, going 7-for-7 at the free-throw line. Smith added eight points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Jaguars, who improved to 4-2 in the conference and 5-2 overall.
Ankeny’s records dropped to 4-2 and 6-2. The crosstown rivals are tied for third place in the league.
“They’ve been playing very well,” Fontana said of the Hawks. “They’d won six in a row, and they’ve been scoring a lot of points. I thought our defense was really good. Our kids were connected on that end of the court. We did a nice job with the schemes that we ran.”
Lio Aguirre had 16 points, 11 rebounds and two assists to lead Ankeny. Carson Johnson added 15 points, but he entered the game averaging more than 25.
“Carson’s obviously a really good player–one of the best in the state,” Winkel said. “So coming into the game, we knew we had to stop him. Lio had a great game as well. We had to adjust at halftime and make it harder for him and just limit everybody else around them.”
Centennial jumped out to an early 14-2 lead before Ankeny rallied. The Hawks closed the gap to 33-28 at halftime, despite 17 points from Winkel.
“He played a good game. He’s a good player, and we knew that coming in,” Johnson said of Winkel. “But we had a good surge of energy. We just hit shots and got some stops, and that gave us some momentum.”
Ankeny used an 8-0 run in the third quarter to take a 38-35 lead. Johnson drained a 3-pointer with 5:16 to go in the period, then followed with a 3-point play less than a minute later to put the Hawks ahead for the first time.
“They’re a good basketball team–just like every team in our league,” Fontana said. “It was a possession by possession game. I know we jumped out to an early lead, but they came back. I’m just so proud of how our kids battled through some adverse situations there in the fourth quarter.”
There were seven lead changes before Klingner buried his 3-pointer to ignite the Jaguars’ late run. A basket by Nolan Dalton with 3:36 left had given Ankeny its final lead of the game.
Dalton finished with a career-high nine points and six rebounds for the Hawks, who committed just five turnovers in the loss.
“Nolan played really hard,” Carlson said. “He’s playing like a senior who doesn’t want his season to end, and I think that’s a good spirit moving forward. We just need a couple other guys to do the same thing.”
Ankeny played most of the game without starting post player Cade Pederson, who injured an ankle in the first quarter.
“Cade getting hurt didn’t help us, and that decreased our bench,” said Carlson, whose team was already playing without injured top reserve Dylan Gloviak. “But you know what, it was a great December game and we’ll learn a lot from it. Congrats to Centennial. They played really well and deserved to win.”
The Jaguars will play a non-conference game at Des Moines Hoover (1-4) on Thursday. Fontana said his team simply wants to continue to improve.
“That’s not our top goal,” he said of winning the conference title. “We just want to be strong going into the postseason and try to get to the state tournament again. I think that’s more important to us, especially in this league.”
