The fifth-ranked Ankeny Centennial girls’ basketball team just couldn’t get over the hump on Tuesday at No. 4 Waukee.
The Warriors scored the game’s first seven points and led all the way en route to a 60-53 victory. The loss snapped Centennial’s six-game winning streak.
“We didn’t come out well at all, and it was disappointing,” said Centennial coach Scott DeJong. “We had such a great practice (Monday), and with a team like Waukee–a good offensive team–you can’t afford (a slow start).”
The Jaguars closed the gap to 11-10 in the second quarter before Waukee pulled away with an 18-8 run to end the half. Mara Yokiel ignited the run with a 3-point goal and a traditional 3-point play.
The Warriors took their biggest lead, 37-22, on another 3-point play by Kirsten Hauck in the third quarter. But Centennial then answered with a 16-5 run and pulled to within 42-38 on a 3-pointer by Ava Martin with 27 seconds left in the period.
“I was feeling it pretty good, especially in the second half,” said Martin, who scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-4 from behind the arc.
Waukee regained control, though, as Emilie Sorensen made a trio of 3-pointers in the first 2 minutes of the fourth quarter to give the Warriors a 51-41 advantage. The Jaguars could get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Sorensen scored 19 of her 23 points in the second half.
“I thought they played great, so give credit to Waukee,” DeJong said. “They shot the ball well. We made a run at them, but then Sorensen hit those three 3s in a row. Some of their other kids that haven’t made many 3s made some, too–like (Yokiel and Gentry Williams). I thought they played really well.”
Hauck added 12 points for Waukee, which defeated the Jaguars for the second time. The Warriors improved to 9-3 in the CIML Conference and 12-3 overall, while Centennial’s records dropped to 6-5 and 9-6.
Martin made back-to-back treys midway through the final period, but it wasn’t enough.
“Ava was feeling it, and we found her a few times. That was good to see,” DeJong said. “But we’ve just got to get going quicker. I thought Mya (Crawford) had a good second half, but she was pretty invisible the first half.”
Crawford led the Jaguars with 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists and five steals. She had eight of her points in the third quarter.
Jaeden Pratt contributed 14 points and a block, while Kylin Smith grabbed six boards. Martin added two assists and three steals.
“We made a comeback there in the third quarter, but then they came out in the fourth and hit a ton of 3s,” Martin said. “We couldn’t ever really get over (the hump).”
Centennial will host a conference game against No. 1 Johnston (11-0, 16-0) on Friday. The Dragons won the first meeting, 64-37, on Dec. 12.
“I think we showed tonight that we can definitely fight back, and I think we’ll do that against Johnston,” Martin said.
