Ankeny Fanatic

Your Ankeny Sports Resource

Crawford avoids major injury, scores 18 points in Jaguars’ victory over S.E. Polk

by

Ankeny Centennial’s Mya Crawford goes up for a shot during Tuesday’s game against visiting Southeast Polk. She scored 18 points to lead the Jaguars to a 51-23 victory. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

Many of the Ankeny Centennial girls’ basketball fans held their breath when standout guard Mya Crawford suffered an injury Tuesday during a game against visiting Southeast Polk.

Crawford hyperextended her knee with 2 minutes 38 seconds left in the second quarter and was helped off the court.

“It didn’t look good,” said Centennial coach Scott DeJong. “But it turned out that she was ok.”

Ankeny Centennial coach Scott DeJong checks on Mya Crawford after she suffered an injury during the second quarter of Tuesday’s game. The junior guard hyperextended her knee and sat out the final 2 minutes 38 seconds of the first half, but then returned to play the second half. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

After sitting out the rest of the half, Crawford returned to the lineup and scored 18 points to lead the fifth-ranked Jaguars to a 51-23 victory. She also had three steals and a block.

“It was nothing too bad,” Crawford said of the injury. “I did the same exact thing this summer, so I kind of knew what it felt like. After the initial pain wore off, I was like, ‘I think I’m going to be all right.’ So I just went back in the game and started playing again.”

Ankeny Centennial’s Tillie Smith shoots a 3-pointer during Tuesday’s game. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

Centennial already held a commanding 25-10 lead at halftime. But Crawford said there was no discussion about holding her out as a precautionary measure.

“I wasn’t going to let that happen,” she said. “I told them I was going to play no matter what.”

No. 13 Southeast Polk jumped out to an early 6-2 advantage before Centennial closed out the first quarter with an 11-0 run to take the lead for good.

Crawford made a 3-point goal to break a 6-6 tie and then followed with another basket shortly thereafter. She had five more points in a 10-0 run in the second quarter before she left with her injury.

“It was a good win,” DeJong said. “We’ve improved a lot, and we’ve stayed consistent with our effort. We had a slow start tonight, but then we cranked up our defense and it was good throughout the game. We sputtered a little on offense, but we made some shots when we had to.”

Southeast Polk defender Maddy Maynes tries to prevent Ankeny Centennial’s Jaeden Pratt from scoring a basket during Tuesday’s game. Pratt had 15 points in the Jaguars’ win. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

Jaeden Pratt had 15 points and five assists for the Jaguars, who improved to 8-7 in the CIML Conference and 11-8 overall. Ava Martin chipped in eight points, and Lizzie Beam grabbed five rebounds.

Southeast Polk shot just 24.3 percent from the field (9-of-37). The Rams fell to 4-10 in the league and 9-10 overall.

Ankeny Centennial’s Ava Martin leads a fast break during Tuesday’s game. She scored eight points in the Jaguars’ victory. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

The win likely wrapped up a No. 1 seed for Centennial in a Class 5A regional tournament. The postseason pairings will be announced on Wednesday by the Iowa Girls’ High School Athletic Union.

“We were just kind of worried about where we would be at if we lost, so I think this game helped us a lot knowing that we’ve only lost to teams in the top five when we lost to them,” Crawford said. “This should help build our resume.”

The Jaguars will close out the regular season on Friday by hosting a conference game against No. 12 Waukee Northwest (5-10, 9-10). The Wolves will be looking to avenge a 52-45 loss on Jan. 2.