Nate Tobey still has confidence in his Ankeny girls’ basketball team.
The seventh-ranked Hawkettes dropped a third consecutive game on their home court Tuesday, when they suffered a 56-27 loss to No. 3 Dowling Catholic. The defeat followed a 55-29 loss to No. 12 Southeast Polk on Friday.
“I think for us it’s just a matter of getting some scoring and shooting confidence back after this rough patch, and I have a lot of confidence that the girls will do that,” said Tobey. “They have a pretty good body of work that says we’re a good offensive team. We’re just going through a rough time right now, and Dowling is an incredible defensive team–one of the best in the state–and they’re going to make things difficult for anybody.”
Like Friday’s game, Ankeny got off to a good start before its offense disappeared. The Hawkettes held a 9-6 lead before being outscored, 15-1, in the second quarter.
Dowling extended its 21-10 halftime margin to 34-15 after three periods. Ankeny then scored 12 points in the final quarter, giving Tobey something to build on.
“There was some progress even though the result wasn’t there that we wanted,” he said. “Some of the things we have worked on the last few days (in practice) have translated (to the games), showing some signs of life for sure. Hopefully, we can put it all together on Friday.”
Jayla Williams scored 11 points to lead Ankeny, which shot just 18 percent from the field (9-of-50). AInsley Kiene chipped in eight points, while Karsen Jacks added three rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block.
Elle Muller had a double-double with 18 points and 17 rebounds to pace the Maroons. She went 9-of-13 from the field.
Ava Zediker scored 11 points, going 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Ellie Olson added 10 points and three steals.
Dowling remained in third place in the CIML Conference, improving to 8-3 in the league and 11-4 overall. The Maroons defeated Ankeny for the second time.
The Hawkettes’ records dropped to 4-7 and 9-7, but Tobey said his players have stayed positive despite the recent adversity.
“That’s been the most impressive part to me,” he said. “Even when the shots haven’t been falling over a long stretch here, they’ve had great attitudes. They’ve been really positive and trying to lift each other up.”
Ankeny will host another conference game against No. 10 Waukee Northwest (4-7, 7-7) on Friday. The Hawkettes won the first meeting at Northwest, 79-61, on Dec. 12.
