A trip to the boys’ Class 4A state basketball tournament will be at stake on Tuesday when Ankeny’s crosstown rivals meet in the postseason for the first time ever.
The Hawks and Jaguars will take the court at Southeast Polk at 7 p.m. for the Substate 8 final. Both teams are looking to advance to Wells Fargo Arena for the third time in five years.
During the regular season, the two squads split a pair of meetings–with the home team winning each time. Centennial currently leads the all-time series, 12-10.
The Jaguars posted a 64-52 victory on Dec. 19, snapping Ankeny’s six-game winning streak. There were seven lead changes before junior Cabryn Klingner made a 3-point goal to give Centennial a 53-51 lead with 3 minutes 20 seconds left, sparking a 14-1 run to close out the game.
Luke Winkel led the Jaguars with 30 points, despite battling some foul trouble. Nick Vaske went 7-of-7 at the free-throw line and added 11 points.
Lio Aguirre had 16 points to lead the Hawks, who played most of the game without starting post player Cade Pederson. He injured an ankle in the first quarter.
After being held to 15 points that night, Ankeny’s Carson Johnson erupted for 38 points on Feb. 2 to lead the Hawks to a 76-63 win in the rematch. He outdueled Winkel, who set a single-game school record with 37 points for Centennial.
Johnson made four 3-pointers in the second quarter, when he scored 14 points in a 19-5 run that turned a 19-13 deficit into a 32-24 advantage for Ankeny. The Jaguars could get no closer than six points in the second half.
Johnson played with a wrap on his left hand after suffering a severe cut that required stitches during a loss to Waukee Northwest on Jan. 26. He sat out a loss to Valley on Jan. 30, but then returned with a vengeance three nights later and the Hawks have been on a roll ever since.
Here’s a closer look at Tuesday’s matchup:
Ankeny
Coach: Brandt Carlson
Record: 16-6
Ranking: 8th in Class 4A by the Iowa High School Athletic Association
Streak: Won 6
Leading scorer: Carson Johnson (23.7)
Leading rebounder: Lio Aguirre (6.4)
Centennial
Coach: Bob Fontana
Record: 17-6
Ranking: 10th in Class 4A by the Iowa High School Athletic Association
Streak: Won 3
Leading scorer: Luke Winkel (22.1)
Leading rebounder: Chase Schutty (8.8)
KEYS TO THE GAME
Which star player will impose his will on the other team?
Both Johnson (498 points) and Winkel (486) will likely surpass the 500-point mark for the season on Tuesday. Johnson, the leading scorer in Class 4A, poured in 36 points in Friday’s substate semifinal against Iowa City Liberty–the sixth time this season that he has scored 30 or more. But Winkel has been every bit as good. He scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half on Friday, when the Jaguars rallied to beat Des Moines Roosevelt in a substate semifinal. Winkel has had some of his best games against Ankeny, scoring 30 or more points in three of the last four Jag-Hawk showdowns. For what it’s worth, the Hawks are 5-1 when Johnson scores 30 or more and Centennial is 3-1 when Winkel reaches that mark. Regardless of the outcome, it will be fun to watch these two all-staters battle each other for one last time at the high school level. Next year, both of them will be playing in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference–Johnson at Minnesota State Moorhead and Winkel at St. Cloud State.
Which team will control the glass?
In the previous two meetings, the team that won the rebounding battle emerged with the victory. The Jaguars enjoyed a 30-24 advantage on the boards in December, when Chase Schutty and Will Smith each grabbed eight rebounds. Earlier this month, Johnson hauled in eight boards to lead his squad to a 26-23 margin on the glass. Any offensive rebound that could lead to some second-chance points will be crucial in a close game that could go down to the wire.
Can either team force a few turnovers?
The two squads combined for a total of just 20 turnovers in the first two meetings. The Jaguars turned it over only two times in their victory, while Ankeny had just five. There were a few more turnovers in the rematch, but the Hawks still had just six–one fewer than Centennial. Will the bright lights of a substate final lead to a few more mistakes?
Which role player will emerge?
Klingner and Smith stepped up in the first game against Ankeny, and that duo also played key roles in the Jaguars’ win over Roosevelt. For the Hawks, Cash Schoolen scored nine points and combined with Pederson to record five blocks in their win over Centennial. Could somebody else be the X-factor on Tuesday?
