Two of the top boys’ basketball scorers in the CIML Conference collided on Thursday at Ankeny Centennial.
The matchup proved to be highly entertaining.
Luke Winkel scored a career-high 34 points to lead the sixth-ranked Jaguars to a 73-64 win over visiting Urbandale, which got 31 points from Grant Uecker in a losing effort.
“Give some credit to Urbandale,” said Centennial coach Bob Fontana. “They played really well at times.”
Centennial held a 30-29 lead at halftime. Uecker scored 21 of his points in the first half to keep the J-Hawks in the game.
“I thought Urbandale came out and was very aggressive. I thought they were the more aggressive team most of the first half,” Fontana said. “Uecker was lights out the first half. We did a poor job at times of running our defensive schemes, and they made us pay for it. But we made a couple of adjustments at halftime, and we did a better job in the second half.”
The Jaguars eventually pulled away as Winkel reached the 30-point mark for the third time in the last seven games. He made 14-of-27 shots from the field and also grabbed seven rebounds, dished out four assists and had two steals.
Centennial’s Nick Vaske tied his season-high with 17 points, going 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Chase Schutty added nine points, 10 boards and a block.
“We played a lot better the second half,” Fontana said. “We knocked down some big 3s, and we did a good job of getting to the line.”
It was Centennial’s second win over the J-Hawks. The Jaguars won the first meeting, 64-51, on Nov. 28.
Centennial improved to 7-3 in the league and 9-3 overall. The J-Hawks’ records dropped to 1-9 and 3-9.
The Jaguars will host a non-conference game against Waterloo West (4-4) on Saturday at 5 p.m.
