After opening the season with three straight double-digit losses, the Ankeny Centennial boys’ basketball team was in position to earn its first victory on Friday.
The visiting Jaguars built a 34-22 lead at halftime before Urbandale closed the gap to 49-41 after three quarters. The J-Hawks then outscored Centennial in the final period, 17-8, and scored the go-ahead basket with 4 seconds left to post a 58-57 win.
Still, Centennial coach Bob Fontana remained upbeat afterwards.
“I thought our guys played hard and gave a great effort,” said Fontana. “Hopefully, we can learn from our successes and mistakes and continue to take steps forward.”
Evan Abbott scored 16 points to lead Centennial, which dropped to 0-4 in the CIML Conference and overall. Cabryn Klingner had a career-high 13 points, and Sean Tunks added a season-high 12.
“We did some really nice things the first half,” said Fontana, whose team also led at the break before dropping a 58-48 decision at Ankeny on Dec. 6. “The first 4 minutes of the second half we got outscored by nine points, and that let them back in the game. It was anybody’s ball game from that point.
“We missed some shots around the rim in the fourth quarter, and we gave up three offensive rebounds that ended up leading to three 3-point goals. It shouldn’t have come down to the last play of the game,” he added.
The Jaguars committed an over-and-back violation with about 20 seconds left. Urbandale eventually scored the winning basket on an inbounds play.
“There was some pretty questionable officiating, particularly in the second half,” Fontana said. “We also got called for a technical foul before the game. They said our kid dunked in warmups. I didn’t even see it.”
Davis Hardersen scored 16 points as the J-Hawks improved to 1-2 in the conference and overall. Jake Pargeon had 14 points, Jaxson Cathcart chipped in 12, and Caleb Hadden added 10 points and eight rebounds.
The Jaguars will travel to Iowa City Liberty on Monday for a non-conference game against the Lightning (0-3) before closing out the December portion of their schedule on Friday, when they play a conference game at Valley (3-1) for the last of five straight road contests.
