Mya Crawford sat in the bleachers with an icepack on her foot following Tuesday’s game against visiting Waukee Northwest.
It was that kind of night for the senior guard and the Ankeny Centennial girls’ basketball team.
Crawford scored 18 points, but her desperation heave at the buzzer bounced off the backboard and the third-ranked Jaguars dropped a 48-47 overtime decision to No. 11 Northwest in their CIML Conference opener.
“In our conference, you can’t really ask for anything else,” said Crawford, who also had six rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocks. “It’s a physical conference, and we just have to be ready for that every single night. You never know what you’re going to get, and tonight I don’t think we came physically ready for the battle that we were handed. I think it’ll just help us in the future.”
The Wolves (1-1) bounced back from a 55-42 loss to No. 2 Dowling Catholic in their season opener on Nov. 26. They scored all three of their points in overtime at the charity stripe after not attempting a single free throw during regulation.
“We’re a young team and to be able to come into a tough environment with a lot of tradition here and the No. 3-ranked team in the state for good reason, it’s definitely a signature win for our program,” said Northwest coach Sam Powell.
The Wolves forced overtime when Leah Janulewicz scored on a driving basket with 1 minute 14 seconds left to tie the game at 45-45. Crawford had a chance for the game-winner at the end of regulation, but her shot was blocked by 6-foot-1 sophomore Logan Vogt in the final seconds.
“She’s a great player. She’s long and athletic,” Crawford said of Vogt. “I think their switch onto me was very smart on their part obviously.”
Northwest took a 47-45 lead when Sadie McCann made two free throws with 2:46 to go in overtime. Crawford converted a bank shot about a minute later to tie it again for the seventh time.
After the two teams traded defensive stops, Vogt drove to the basket and was fouled with 3.3 seconds remaining. She then made the second of her two free throws for the go-ahead point.
“It was a really physical game, and that was the way it was both ways,” said Centennial coach Scott DeJong. “We were getting to the basket, and that’s about all we can do. We just have to be a little stronger and a little more aggressive. It was a good learning experience.”
Northwest held a 26-24 lead at halftime. Five different Wolves combined to make six 3-point goals in the first half.
“Anytime you play Centennial and a Scott DeJong team, they’re known for their defense. So we always expect it to be a low-scoring affair,” Powell said. “We were hoping we could hit some 3s. We were cold the last game, and we were hoping we could open it up and loosen their defense a little bit so we could get some driving opportunities.”
Centennial (1-1) then used a 9-0 run in the third quarter to take a 35-28 lead. The Jaguars later extended the margin to 42-34 on a steal and layup by Ava Martin with 5:28 left.
However, Northwest then answered with a 9-0 run of its own. Sophomore Romey Croatt scored five straight points before a basket by Vana Bilic put the Wolves ahead, 43-42, with 2:34 to go.
Centennial played the last 3 minutes of regulation and the overtime period without Jaeden Pratt, who finished with 10 points. She fouled out after picking up two quick offensive fouls midway through the fourth quarter.
“I thought the rebounding really hurt us,” DeJong said. “Jaeden was out, and the rest of us have to do a better job on the boards. We’d hold them, but they got too many second-chance shots at the end. We were a little out of sync on offense because we had some people at different positions that maybe they hadn’t played so much.”
Finley Blackmore had nine points for the Jaguars, including a free throw that tied it at 43-43 with 2:16 left in regulation. Crawford followed with a go-ahead basket, but Janulewicz then matched her shortly thereafter to extend the game.
“I think it was very humbling,” Crawford said of the loss. “Everyone thought with us returning everyone from last year obviously that we thought we were going to have a little better (result) than what we had tonight. I think it was just humbling, and it’ll put a fire under us going forward.”
The Jaguars will travel across town on Friday for another conference game at No. 8 Ankeny (4-0).
