When Karsen Jacks made a tough shot in the lane with 3 minutes 4 seconds left in Tuesday’s Class 5A regional final, the Ankeny girls’ basketball team appeared to be on the verge of qualifying for the state tournament for the first time since the split into two high schools in 2013.
Jacks’ basket gave the eighth-ranked Hawkettes a 34-29 lead over visiting Valley, which had gone scoreless for nearly 3 minutes.
However, the No. 9 Tigers refused to go away.
Valley closed out the game with a 10-2 run to post a 39-36 victory over its CIML Conference rival. The Tigers (13-10) avenged two earlier losses to Ankeny while advancing to state for the third straight year.
“We’ve had that a few times this season where you get a lot of momentum midway through the fourth (quarter) and you just kind of go cold offensively and get some great looks at the basket that just don’t happen to go in, and Valley made some tough shots at the end so credit to them,” said Ankeny coach Nate Tobey, whose team finished at 13-10. “They have some really clutch players who have been in those moments before.”
There were six ties and nine lead changes in the seesaw battle. Valley never led by more than three points.
“I know that we came up short of our goal in getting to Wells Fargo (Arena), but I am incredibly proud of this team’s consistent effort and fight this year,” said Ankeny junior Savannah Gage, who led the Hawkettes with 18 points and two blocks. “We faced a lot of adversity throughout the season, and I am very grateful to have played alongside this group of girls.”
The Tigers’ late comeback was ignited by freshman guard Tylee Weite, who scored a game-high 19 points. She made a 3-point goal from the top of the key with 2:04 to go, capping a long possession where Valley missed multiple shots but kept grabbing the offensive rebound.
After a timeout, Weite then converted a steal into a layup to tie the game at 34-34 with 1:51 remaining. She went 7-of-14 from the field, including 4-of-8 from behind the arc.
“Tylee was really active,” Tobey said. “She’s an awesome freshman, and she was so confident.”
The Hawkettes held Valley star Elise Jaeger to just five points, but Jaeger still contributed in other ways. When she was double-teamed in the post in the final minute, Jaeger passed the ball to an open Elan Litt for the go-ahead 3-pointer with 40 seconds left.
Jaeger, who had injured an ankle during the Tigers’ 53-46 loss to Ankeny on Feb. 9, had eight rebounds and four steals.
“Elise is a great player,” Tobey said. “She’s obviously not 100 percent, but just having her out there is so impactful for them.”
Jaeger fouled out with 32 seconds to go when she tried to prevent a basket by Ankeny’s Cassie Johnson that closed the gap to 37-36. Johnson missed the ensuing free throw, but the Hawkettes got the ball back when they forced a five-second call with 20 seconds left.
Jacks dribbled into the paint with about 10 seconds to go, but her shot for the lead rolled off the rim. Ankeny was then forced to foul, and Litt converted two free throws with 6.4 seconds left.
Ankeny had one final possession and needed a 3-pointer. Gage dribbled the ball up the left side of the court, but her desperation heave at the buzzer was short.
“There were many lead changes in the game, and it was super competitive as we expected,” Gage said. “Valley made some huge plays down the stretch that hurt us a bit in the end. Ultimately, they did the little things that allowed them to win the game. All credit to them, though. They are a great team and they played well together tonight, especially in the last couple minutes.”
Ankeny used a 13-2 run in the first half to build a 15-7 lead, its largest of the game. But Valley’s Ashlee Brown then made a deep 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down, halting the Hawkettes’ momentum midway through the second quarter.
Weite followed with two more treys to put the Tigers ahead, 16-15. A free throw by Gage tied the score at 16-16 at the break.
Tobey wasn’t surprised that the game turned into a defensive battle. A year ago, Valley posted a 37-20 win over Cedar Falls in a regional final.
“Those were two pretty decent offensive teams in that game,” he said. “We knew that was their goal coming in (to keep the score down). We tried to play fast and just didn’t knock down enough shots from the perimeter to really be consistent with our pace and where we wanted our offense to be.”
Ankeny’s Ainsley Kiene had eight points in the loss, including six in a row during one stretch. Jacks added six points.
Johnson grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Jayla Williams had five assists and three steals.
Jacks and Johnson are among the seniors who will have to be replaced next year.
“I’m proud of these girls,” Tobey said. “I really appreciate how they accepted me coming in (for my first year). They gave me a lot of great feedback on the direction they wanted to go, and they had great attitudes with the ups and downs that our season presented us.”
