The Ankeny Centennial boys’ basketball team dropped to No. 8 in the latest Class 4A rankings from the Iowa High School Athletic Association, making Monday’s non-conference game against visiting Des Moines North all the more important.
The Jaguars are fighting for a No. 1 seed in a substate tournament, which will go to the top eight teams in the final rankings.
“I was a little bit disappointed in the new rankings to be honest with you,” said Centennial coach Bob Fontana. “I guess I don’t understand how some of the teams moved up and some moved down, but obviously every single game matters now. They all count.”
Centennial may have helped its cause with an 82-51 victory over the Polar Bears. The Jaguars improved to 12-4 on the season, while North’s record dropped to 10-5.
Centennial jumped out to a 23-5 lead at the end of the first quarter and held a 36-16 advantage at halftime. North closed the gap to 56-41 in the final period before the Jaguars pulled away.
“We got off to another good start again,” Fontana said. “North is a very athletic team, but I thought we did a good job of keeping their athleticism in front of us for the most part.”
Luke Winkel scored 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting to lead Centennial. He also had seven assists and three steals.
Chase Schutty had another double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds. He also blocked three shots.
Schutty went 3-of-4 from 3-point range for the Jaguars, who went 10-of-21 from behind the arc.
“Chase had a really good all-around game,” Fontana said. “It was just another blue-collar effort. He’s been playing really well.”
Connor Welsch made 3-of-6 3-pointers and had 12 points in the win. Nick Vaske added eight points and eight boards.
Reserves Isaac Runchey and Rex Jensen contributed seven and six points, respectively.
“We got some nice minutes from our subs tonight,” Fontana said. “Rex hasn’t gotten a lot of playing time, but with Will Smith still down (with an illness) we needed somebody to step up. I thought Rex did a nice job of filling that void tonight.”
The Jaguars will play a CIML Conference game at Ankeny (10-5) on Friday. The two teams are currently tied for third place in the league at 7-4.
The Hawks will be looking to avenge a 64-52 loss on Dec. 19.
“You can throw the records out the window for these rivalry games, but they’ve got a nice record and a nice ball club,” Fontana said. “It’ll be a war. We’ll definitely have to bring our ‘A’ game.”
