The 700th career victory for Ankeny Centennial’s Scott DeJong followed a familiar script.
The legendary girls’ basketball coach reached the milestone on Saturday when the third-ranked Jaguars opened their season by winning a defensive battle against No. 5 Pleasant Valley, 39-26, at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids.
“It was two good teams going at it,” said DeJong. “Our kids played with a lot of energy and a lot of passion. (Pleasant Valley) is so big that it’s hard to score against them, but we didn’t let them score either. So there were a lot of good things to build from.”
The Spartans, who have lost only eight games over the previous three seasons and went undefeated to win the Class 5A title in 2022-23, were held to their lowest point total in nearly five years. They scored 25 points in a loss to Muscatine on Jan. 17, 2020.
“We knew it was going to be a battle from the start,” said Centennial forward Jaeden Pratt, who scored a game-high 15 points. “They are super lengthy and have great athletes. We knew defense was going to be a strong part of the game, and everyone was locked in with their matchups.”
Mya Crawford had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Pratt made 6-of-13 shots and also had four assists, five steals and a block.
“Jaeden got in some serious foul trouble, but she just played a tremendous game,” DeJong said. “She was everywhere.”
Centennial’s Tillie Smith scored 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting–all from 3-point range. The Jaguars shot just 27.3 percent (15-of-55), including 7-of-31 from behind the arc (22.6 percent).
“They play a buzz zone, and I believe they’re 6-4, 6-3 and 6-2 across that back line so there’s not much going on inside,” DeJong said of the Spartans’ defense. “We had some decent looks at 3, but they’re running out there (to defend it). They’re well-drilled in that defense, and they make it difficult. But Tillie hit a few (3-pointers) in the second half, and that helped to open things up a little bit.”
The Jaguars jumped out to an 11-3 lead at the end of the first quarter. Pleasant Valley closed the gap to 18-14 at halftime, but Centennial then gradually pulled away in the second half as the Spartans struggled to find the basket.
Quinn Vice led Pleasant Valley with eight points, nine rebounds and three blocks, but went just 1-of-9 from the field. As a team, the Spartans shot just 22.2 percent (6-of-27) and committed 20 turnovers.
The Jaguars, meanwhile, had just nine turnovers. They also outrebounded their taller opponent, 34-25.
“We put an emphasis on taking care of the ball, and it’s hard to do against them,” DeJong said. “Nine turnovers against that zone–the way they play it–is a credit to our kids. We had a lot of prep time, which helps. We don’t see a lot of zone, but we had so much prep against it that if we see a zone coming up, it’ll just be a review for us and that’s a real positive.”
Pratt and her teammates had plenty of reasons to celebrate afterwards.
“It was a great first win for us!” she said. “We celebrated with coach in the locker room and congratulated him on his amazing achievement!”
The Jaguars will host No. 11 Waukee Northwest (0-1) in their CIML Conference opener on Tuesday. The Wolves dropped a 55-42 decision to No. 2 Dowling Catholic in their season opener on Nov. 26.
