There was no letdown for the Ankeny boys’ basketball team.
Three days after posting an emotional win over their crosstown rival, the Hawks made another statement on Monday with a 71-59 victory over visiting Johnston, which was coming off a 66-45 triumph against CIML Conference leader Waukee.
“It was nice to see that because it’s always hard for young people not to live in that big moment,” said Ankeny coach Brandt Carlson, whose team had defeated eighth-ranked Ankeny Centennial, 76-63, on Friday. “And it’s tough to play on a Monday night with a small crowd, and there was no school today. But this was a good win against a team that is playing really, really well. That’s huge to beat them twice just for seeding purposes and all those things. It just helps.”
Ankeny, which had posted a 51-45 win at Johnston on Dec. 1, improved to 9-5 in the conference and 12-6 overall. The Dragons’ records dropped to 6-8 and 10-8.
The Hawks are still unranked by the Iowa High School Athletic Association, but could move into contention for a No. 1 seed in the upcoming substate tournaments with a strong finish to the regular season.
“We need these wins late in the season because some of these teams like Johnston–they just beat Waukee by 20–are really good, so coming out here and proving that we can compete with those teams, it definitely helps for the postseason,” said Ankeny sophomore Rio Aguirre.
Aguirre poured in 24 points on Monday, including six 3-point goals. His brother, Lio, added 18 and surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career.
After Lio scored 11 points in the first quarter, Rio erupted for 11 points in the first 3 minutes of the second period. The duo combined for 27 points as the Hawks built a 44-28 halftime lead.
Carlson said it was probably his team’s best half of the season.
“It’s just a testament to these guys,” he said. “They’re willing to listen to us and trying to do a better job of moving the basketball and not being so sticky with it with individual dribbling and all that. It makes us harder to guard, and when Rio is really shooting well like he did tonight, we can spread things out.”
Rio made a pair of treys to extend the lead to 52-30 early in the third quarter. He later swished another 3-pointer to make it 57-39.
“In warmups I was feeling really good,” Rio said. “So I knew they were going in tonight.”
Rio said it wasn’t difficult for the Hawks to re-focus following Friday’s showdown.
“That was a great moment, but it’s always on to the next one for us,” he said.
Dalen Houston led Johnston with 18 points and eight rebounds. Jalen Richardson added 12 points.
Carlson said his players aren’t too concerned with the rankings, even though a team that is two games behind the Hawks in the conference standings–Waukee Northwest–is now ranked 10th.
“Obviously, it’s nice (to be ranked) because then you feel better about the postseason (pairings), but we’re just trying to get these guys to focus on the next game,” he said. “But they’re a mature group, and they see the big picture.”
Ankeny will play another conference game on Tuesday at Urbandale (2-12, 6-12). The Hawks won the first meeting, 70-58, on Jan. 5.
