Two of the state’s best boys’ basketball players put on a dazzling display Friday at the Ankeny gym.
Only one of them walked away with a victory.
Ankeny’s Carson Johnson poured in 38 points to offset a career-high 37 from Ankeny Centennial’s Luke Winkel and the Hawks avenged an earlier loss with a 76-63 win.
“It’s always a great rivalry,” said Johnson, who went 12-of-17 from the field and 9-of-10 at the free-throw line. “Whenever we can get a win in this game, it’s always just a great feeling. We know it’s a hard-fought win every time.”
Ankeny improved to 8-5 in the CIML Conference and 11-6 overall while snapping a two-game losing streak and a three-game skid to the eighth-ranked Jaguars, whose records fell to 7-5 and 12-5. The Hawks, who had dropped a 64-52 decision at Centennial on Dec. 19, moved into third place in the league.
The intensity of the rivalry showed in the second half, when Ankeny’s Lio Aguirre and Centennial’s Chase Schutty were called for a double technical late in the third quarter. Then, with 2 minutes 22 seconds left in the game, Winkel was called for an intentional foul for grabbing the jersey of Johnson, who reacted to the play and was given a technical.
“There was a lot of intensity,” said Ankeny coach Brandt Carlson. “(There were) some things we don’t normally like to see with technicals and all that kind of stuff, but I thought both teams really fought. It was just a good battle. It was fun watching Carson just play really well, and obviously Luke always plays well. It was a fun battle there, but at the end of the day I think we were just fortunate to have the lead in the third quarter. They started making a run like they always do, and I definitely had thoughts of last year (when Ankeny led by 25 points at Centennial before suffering a 51-49 loss). But our guys were fortunate to make some shots.”
Johnson made four 3-point goals in the second quarter, when he erupted for 14 points in a 19-5 run that turned a 19-13 deficit into a 32-24 advantage for the Hawks.
“Just seeing a couple (shots) go down, it gave me the confidence to keep going,” said Johnson, who also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. “I know I can always come out and play this way. I put in the work–I just need to trust it and then these games happen.”
Johnson played with a wrap on his left hand after suffering a severe cut that required stitches during a loss to Waukee Northwest a week ago. He sat out Tuesday’s loss to No. 3 Valley.
“I didn’t think he’d shoot it that well,” Carlson said. “He’s really struggled with his perimeter shot the last couple weeks, but the weird thing is that I think that week off helped. He got off his legs and didn’t have to focus on the stress of basketball. So for whatever reason, it all lined up and worked out.”
Johnson had 18 points in the first half as Ankeny built a 34-26 lead. The Jaguars could get no closer than six points the rest of the way.
“Credit to Ankeny. They played real well,” said Centennial coach Bob Fontana. “They were more connected than us on both ends of the floor. I didn’t think we played smart offensively during their run in the second quarter, and we had way too many breakdowns defensively. We let the ball get in the lane way too much. I’m disappointed in how we played, but again credit to Ankeny. They were the tougher team at times.”
Winkel tried to rally Centennial in the second half, when he scored 26 of the Jaguars’ 37 points. He had 13 consecutive points during one stretch.
“I know he’s a great player,” Johnson said. “I have a lot of respect for him. I know he works really hard every day. Anytime we battle, it’s always a show.”
Ankeny led by as many as 19 points before Centennial went on an 18-7 run in the fourth quarter. Winkel made a 3-pointer with 1 minute left to close the gap to 71-63, but the Jaguars went scoreless the rest of the way.
“I felt like our ball movement could have been better as well as our execution on defense,” Winkel said. “Our offense runs a lot better when we can get into transition and get some easy looks.”
Winkel had six 3-pointers, four of them in the third quarter. Johnson finished with five treys.
“He’s a really good player,” Winkel said of Johnson. “(His output) wasn’t unexpected from a player like that.”
Fontana wasn’t surprised by Johnson’s performance, either.
“I know what kind of player he is,” Fontana said. “There were times when we didn’t guard him like we were supposed to, and there were times when he hit some really tough shots. So credit to him for knocking down those shots.”
Ankeny’s Rio Aguirre had 15 points in the win. Lio Aguirre contributed 10 points, five assists and two steals, while Cash Schoolen had nine points and Cade Pederson added three blocks.
“This has to help (our confidence), but I told the guys that on Saturday morning I hope they really forget about it,” Carlson said. “We’ve got three really tough teams coming up this week, and we’ve still got to get better. But obviously this is a big momentum boost for us.”
Joey Oakie and Isaac Runchey each had six points for Centennial. Schutty added seven rebounds and two steals.
“We just didn’t have enough help (for Winkel),” Fontana said. “I told the team that there are one of two ways we can go from here. We can pout about this, or we can pick up our bootstraps and move on and get ready for the next game. Because the next game is the most important one right now.”
The Hawks will host a conference game against Johnston (6-7, 10-7) on Monday. The Dragons lost the first meeting against Ankeny, 51-45, on Dec. 1, but they are coming off a 66-45 triumph over No. 5 Waukee on Friday.
The Jaguars will host a conference game against Southeast Polk (1-12, 5-12) on Tuesday. The Rams will be looking to avenge a 64-55 loss on Jan. 5.
