Saturday’s season opener against visiting Ames showed that the Ankeny girls’ basketball team will have a deeper bench than it did a year ago.
The eighth-ranked Hawkettes got solid contributions from many different players in a 66-28 victory in the non-conference game.
“Overall, we made progress with our focus areas for the season,” said Ankeny coach Nate Tobey, who used all 15 of his players. “Credit to Ames and their coaching staff for the level of improvement from last year to this year.”
Reserve guard Allison Hawkins made a pair of 3-point goals in the first half as Ankeny built a 38-13 lead. Lilly Buckley, another reserve guard, added a 3-pointer in the third quarter to extend the margin to 56-17.
“Our players are understanding how hard you have to play to be consistently successful,” Tobey said. “It was great to see Lilly, Riley (Kayser) and Allison see success on the court because they have earned it.”
Ankeny’s veterans also played well. Savannah Gage scored nine of her 18 points in the first quarter, while Jayla Williams had seven of her 18 in the third quarter.
Williams also had six assists, five steals and two blocks. Ainsley Kiene added six points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Kiene made back-to-back steals that she converted into two layups as part of a 20-4 run to open the second half.
“Ainsley, Jayla and Sav played connected and made each other better and were solid leaders for us,” Tobey said.
Junior forward Reagan Baldwin, a transfer from Valley, scored 10 points in her debut for the Hawkettes. She made a pair of 3-pointers.
“Reagan had a great first game and has been such a helpful addition for us in every way,” Tobey said.
Other players made an impact, too.
“Kyla Schaapveld and Jade Moser were anchors for us defensively while still being offensive threats,” Tobey said.
Karsyn Pankonen had 10 points to lead the Little Cyclones, who shot just 27.5 percent from the field (11-of-40).
Ankeny will travel to Urbandale on Tuesday for its CIML Conference opener. The J-Hawks (0-1) are coming off a 67-43 loss on Friday at Norwalk, the No. 4 team in Class 4A.
