The Ankeny Centennial girls’ basketball team has earned a No. 1 seed in Class 5A regional play.
Ankeny was also awarded a No. 1 seed in Region 8 by the Iowa Girls’ High School Athletic Union, but the eighth-ranked Hawkettes may need to win at No. 9 Valley on Friday to earn the right to host a regional final.
After receiving a first-round bye, Ankeny (11-9) will host either Cedar Rapids Kennedy (6-13) or Waterloo West (9-11) in a regional semifinal on Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. Valley (11-9) will host Iowa City Liberty (9-8) in the other regional semifinal.
The regional final will be played on Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. The highest remaining ranked team in the final rankings will host the regional final.
This is where the situation gets murky. Ankeny already owns a 55-50 win over Valley, but the two teams enter Friday’s regular-season finale with identical records.
A win by the Tigers would allow them to earn a split of the season series and to finish with a better mark than Ankeny. If that happens, it seems likely that Valley would leapfrog the Hawkettes in the final rankings that will be released on Feb. 14, which would put the Tigers in position to host the regional final.
No. 5 Centennial, meanwhile, is the top seed in Region 5. After receiving a bye, the Jaguars (11-8) will host either Sioux City North (4-16) or Council Bluffs Jefferson (1-18) in a regional semifinal on Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.
No. 11 Sioux City East (16-4) will host Ames (12-8) in the other regional semifinal. The regional final will be played on Feb. 20 at 7 p.m., hosted by the highest remaining ranked team.
Centennial will host No. 12 Waukee Northwest in its regular-season finale on Friday. Even with a loss, the Jaguars would still likely remain above Sioux City East in the final rankings, giving them the right to host the regional final.
Sioux City East and Waukee Northwest were apparently flipped in the regional pairings for geographic concerns. Otherwise, the Black Raiders may have had to travel to No. 6 Pleasant Valley for a regional final.
Centennial could meet Sioux City East in regional play for the third time. The Jaguars won a semifinal game in 2019, then posted a 46-41 victory in a regional final two years ago.
