A huge second quarter lifted the Ankeny boys’ basketball team to a 76-39 win at Urbandale on Tuesday.
The Hawks outscored Urbandale in the second period, 30-7, to build a 46-18 halftime lead. They then cruised to their third consecutive victory–all of them in the last five days.
“We shot the ball well again, so that was two nights in a row,” said Ankeny coach Brandt Carlson, whose team had rolled past Johnston on Monday. “That was great.”
Carson Johnson scored 18 points for Ankeny, while Rio Aguirre chipped in 15. Luke Anderson went 4-of-5 from 3-point range and finished with 12 points.
Brevin Phillips had 16 points to lead Urbandale, which shot just 30.2 percent from the field (16-of-53). The J-Hawks went 1-of-18 from 3-point range (5.6 percent).
The Hawks improved to 10-5 in the CIML Conference and 13-6 overall. Urbandale’s records dropped to 2-13 and 6-13.
“We got really good production from our top seven guys who have been leading us all year,” Carlson said. “I’m just proud of the guys for taking (the game) seriously and trying to get better.”
With just two games left in the regular season, Ankeny is making a strong push for a No. 1 seed in a Class 4A substate tournament.
“You need to be (peaking right now),” Carlson said. “There’s not a lot of time to waste. I just hope at the end of the day we find ways to stay engaged and find a sense for what we’re doing.”
Ankeny will close out the conference season with a game on Friday at No. 3 Valley. The Tigers (12-3, 14-4) moved into a tie for first place with a 76-62 victory over No. 7 Waukee on Tuesday and can clinch at least a tie for the league crown with a win.
Valley won the first meeting at Ankeny, 67-48, on Jan. 30. However, Johnson did not play in that game due to an injury.
“It’s a big game, and we’re looking forward to the challenge. It’ll be fun,” Carlson said. ‘I don’t know when all the seedings will be finalized, but we’ll just take the next game and do what we can and see where they put us.”
