Even without Curtis Stinson Jr., the Valley boys’ basketball team is still one of the state’s most talented squads.
The second-ranked Tigers got 19 points from Trevin Jirak and 16 more from Zay Robinson to beat No. 6 Ankeny Centennial, 60-59, in a CIML Conference game on Tuesday at Valley.
Stinson, who averages nearly 20 points per game, has not played since the Tigers’ double-overtime loss at No. 5 Waukee on Jan. 5.
“They’re very talented,” Centennial coach Bob Fontana said of the Tigers. “I thought we did a decent job on Robinson. He’s going to get points, but six of his 16 points came at the line and those were some big points.”
Robinson, who led Valley to the Class 4A state title last year as a sophomore, made two free throws to give Valley a 58-51 lead with 14 seconds left. But the Jaguars refused to go away.
Luke Winkel, who scored 15 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, made a 3-point goal with 8 seconds to go to cut the Tigers’ lead to 58-54.
After Jirak missed a pair of free throws with 6.5 seconds remaining, WInkel was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 2.5 seconds left. After making his first two attempts, Winkel intentionally tried to miss his third free throw, but the ball deflected off the backboard and was awarded to Valley.
On the ensuing inbounds play, Robinson was fouled as he raced down the court to catch a pass. He then made both free throws to seal the win.
Winkel swished a 3-pointer from half-court at the buzzer to complete the scoring.
“It was a possession by possession game,” Fontana said. “No team led by more than five (most of the game). They made three or four big plays in the last 2 or 3 minutes of the game, and we had a couple of empty possessions offensively. And the next thing you know they made that run on us.”
There were seven ties and nine lead changes in the game. The Jaguars matched their biggest lead, 46-41, when Winkel connected on a baseline jumper midway through the fourth quarter.
However, Valley then got a basket from Kyle Cason to ignite a 17-5 run. Jirak followed with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 46-46 with 2:54 left.
After a block by Jirak led to Kiki Deng’s go-ahead 3-pointer for the Tigers, Winkel answered with a trey to tie the game again, 49-49, with about 2 minutes to go. But Jirak then hit another 3-pointer to give Valley the lead for good, 52-49, with 1:30 left.
Jirak, a 6-foot-9 junior, had made just 2-of-16 3-point attempts prior to Tuesday’s game.
“So of course we were playing the percentages, and he steps out and hits two big 3s up top,” Fontana said. “That was big.”
Valley, which avenged last month’s 53-45 loss at Centennial, improved to 6-3 in the conference and 8-3 overall–matching the Jaguars’ records. The two teams are now tied for second place in the league.
Centennial’s Chase Schutty finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Will Smith chipped in eight points, Nick Vaske had seven, and Connor Welsch added six points and two steals.
“We were taking what they were giving us (offensively),” Fontana said. “Schutty had some big baskets early, and so did Welsch. I thought it was like two boxers sparring there that first half, just feeling each other out. It was a game that could have gone either way–like a lot of games in our league. They were just a little better down the stretch.”
The Jaguars played most of the game without starting forward Joey Oakie. He left the court after taking an elbow to his eye midway through the first quarter.
“He was having trouble seeing, but I think he’ll be ok for Thursday’s game,” Fontana said.
Centennial will host a conference game against Urbandale (3-8) on Thursday. The Jaguars won the first meeting at Urbandale, 64-51, on Nov. 28.
