The Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial boys’ basketball teams finally learned their postseason assignments on Monday.
The crosstown rivals may have to play each other for a trip to the state tournament.
After moving into the No. 8 spot in the final Class 4A rankings, Ankeny (14-6) was awarded the No. 1 seed in Substate 8 by the Iowa High School Athletic Association. The Hawks posted a 76-72 victory at No. 3 Valley on Friday and have now won four straight games heading into Monday’s non-conference contest against visiting Norwalk.
No. 10 Centennial (14-6), which dropped two spots in the rankings following a 52-48 loss to visiting Dowling Catholic on Saturday, was awarded the No. 2 seed in Substate 8. The Jaguars will close out the regular season with games at home against Winterset on Monday and Johnston on Thursday.
No. 7 Dubuque Senior and No. 9 Pleasant Valley were both placed in Substate 5. The IHSAA could have placed Centennial in the same bracket with Dubuque Senior, but the Jaguars were apparently flipped with Pleasant Valley for geographic reasons.
Both Ankeny and Centennial will receive first-round byes before hosting a substate semifinal on Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. The Hawks will play fourth-seeded Iowa City Liberty (8-11) or fifth-seeded Waterloo West (5-14), while the Jaguars will meet third-seeded Des Moines Roosevelt (17-4) or No. 6 Indianola (1-18).
The substate final will be played on Feb. 27 at a neutral site.
Roosevelt could be a significant hurdle for Centennial in the semifinal round. Freshman Charlie King averages 11.6 points to lead a balanced attack for the Roughriders, who won a preseason scrimmage between the two teams.
If Ankeny and Centennial meet in the substate final, it would be the rubber match between the rivals. The Jaguars posted a 64-52 victory on Dec. 19 behind Luke Winkel’s 30 points, but the Hawks won the rematch, 76-63, on Feb. 2 as Carson Johnson erupted for 38 points and outdueled Winkel, who finished with a career-high 37.