Carson Johnson still remembers the feeling he had walking off the court two years ago after his Ankeny boys’ basketball team lost to Johnston in the Class 4A quarterfinals.
“Losing here my sophomore year, it sucked,” Johnson said. “We just wanted to get back here and get a win for so long. Seeing all that hard work pay off is just great.”
Johnson poured in a game-high 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting to lead the eighth-ranked Hawks to a 60-47 victory over No. 6 Dubuque Senior in the Class 4A quarterfinals on Wednesday at Wells Fargo Arena.
It was the eighth straight win for fifth-seeded Ankeny (18-6), which will play No. 1 Cedar Rapids Kennedy (24-0) in the semifinals on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
“We knew we didn’t want to play one (game),” said Ankeny senior Cash Schoolen. “We wanted to play all three. So this is just the first one.”
While Johnson reached the 20-point mark for the 15th time this season, Ankeny also got a huge lift from a trio of role players. Schoolen had 10 points and five rebounds, Luke Anderson chipped in nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range, and Cade Pederson added eight points and eight boards.
“We were a little nervous coming in, but that’s going to happen,” said Anderson. “But we’re confident in our abilities, and we work hard. We feel like we have a lot of guys who can step in and fill their role anytime that we need them to.”
Jacob Williams led the Rams (21-3) with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Nick Kennedy added 12 points.
Pederson and Schoolen helped the Hawks battle Senior to a 26-26 tie in the rebounding battle. The duo also held the Rams’ top two scorers, Williams and Tevin Schultz, to a combined 22 points–about 10 below their average.
“Cash’s quickness helped a lot,” said Ankeny coach Brandt Carlson. “He was hopping over shoulders and making those entry passes tough. That was what we really had to do, just be a little quicker than them at times. I’m really proud of the development of Cade and Cash to just be tough guys down there (in the paint). That was not their nature a year or two ago, but we wouldn’t have won without them.”
Ankeny never trailed after Pederson scored the first basket of the game. Senior closed the gap to 15-14 early in the second quarter, but Schoolen then responded with a pair of baskets to ignite a 6-0 run and the Hawks began to pull away.
“We all play together. We’re a team,” Schoolen said. “We can’t go iso ball every possession so playing together, that’s what we do.”
Ankeny held a 29-20 lead at halftime. The Hawks then extended the margin to 47-35 after three quarters–even though Senior went 4-of-5 from behind the arc in the period.
The Rams pulled within 50-43 on a 3-pointer by Cooper Porter in the fourth quarter, but Johnson and Anderson then answered with a pair of treys to seal the win.
“Every guy made a play,” Carlson said. “You’ve got to have that at the end of the day. Other guys have to make plays when Carson is taking a lot of heat, and they were going after Lio (Aguirre) pretty hard. I was proud of the effort overall.”
Johnson had four of Ankeny’s seven steals. Rio Aguirre dished out five assists.
“Everyone stepped up,” Johnson said. “It was a great team win. We all contributed. Getting a win like that feels great.”
Senior was making its seventh appearance in the state tournament since 2012. Wendell Eimers has coached the Rams to 416 victories in his 31 years at the school.
When Carlson was a junior at Alta-Aurelia High School, he was coached by Eimers.
“(Eimers) went to Buena Vista and he did some student teaching, and he was our assistant coach,” Carlson said. “He’s just a great guy. I was really honored to coach against him today. It’s just neat all the relationships you develop over the years.”
Ankeny now faces a huge challenge. Kennedy advanced to the semifinals with a 66-45 win over Dallas Center-Grimes.
Joseph Bean had 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists to lead the Cougars. Cyrus Courtney chipped in 15 points, and Micah Schlaak added 14.
“We watched a little bit of it, and we’ll watch more tonight,” Johnson said. “We’ll be ready for it.”
Kennedy is 46-1 over the last two seasons. The Cougars’ only loss came to Pleasant Valley in last year’s quarterfinals.
“They’re so good. They do a lot of things really well,” Carlson said. “It’s going to be a tough battle, but we’re just glad to have the opportunity to go for it.”
