There are no easy wins in the Central Iowa Metropolitan League.
The Ankeny boys’ basketball team had to play an extra 8 minutes on Tuesday to earn its second conference victory of the season.
The visiting Hawks scored the final six points of the game over the last 20 seconds to outlast Southeast Polk, 74-68, in double overtime. They improved to 2-3 in the CIML Conference and overall, while the Rams’ records dropped to 0-4 and 2-4.
“These are tough games to win. I don’t care where you’re playing at in our league,” said Ankeny coach Brandt Carlson. “To win in two overtimes is pretty awesome.”
Southeast Polk was coming off a 56-48 win at Marshalltown on Monday, but had lost its previous three CIML games by an average of 23.3 points. The Rams erased an 18-point deficit in Tuesday’s contest, which turned into a seesaw battle that featured nine ties and 10 lead changes.
“This is very big,” said Ankeny sophomore Jasani Campbell, who scored a career-high 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting. “We’ve been working on this in practice and staying together as a team. It felt really good to get the win.”
Campbell made two free throws with 1 minute 56 seconds left to put Ankeny ahead, 68-66, in the second overtime. Both teams spent a considerable amount of time at the line in the second half.
“People were going up hard, and the refs were calling fouls,” Campbell said. “We knew we’d get something going.”
Southeast Polk tied the game at 68-68 on a fast-break basket by Rex Smith with 1:11 to go. But those were the Rams’ final points.
Ankeny took the lead for good, 70-68, on a rebound basket by Drew Sorensen with 20 seconds left. He finished with 10 points and five assists.
“We just had some guys make plays,” Carlson said. “Drew was in the right place at the right time, and it worked out well.”
Rio Aguirre led the Hawks with a game-high 27 points and 12 rebounds. He made two free throws with 10.5 seconds remaining to seal the victory, then Sorensen added two more with 3 seconds to go.
Aguirre had 15 of his points in the first half, including five straight that gave Ankeny its biggest lead at 33-15 midway through the second period.
“Rio is just leading us so well and handling all of the emotions of that position,” Carlson said of Aguirre, who also had two blocks. “I’m just really impressed with him and how the whole team is staying together.”
Southeast Polk then went on a 20-4 run that bridged the second and third quarters, closing the gap to 37-35 on a 3-point goal by Henry Gaffney about 3 minutes into the second half.
A driving basket by junior guard Emmanuel Tete, who led the Rams with 24 points, tied the score at 48-48 with 50 seconds left in the period. From that point on, neither team led by more than two until Ankeny converted the four late free throws.
“It was a good battle,” Carlson said. “I thought they played really well. Coming out of half and really the end of the second quarter, we just didn’t capitalize on some layups and things like that. I think with this team, that could be a good growth opportunity for us if we take it. Some different guys stepped up and different guys got on the floor and played in some different moments that they probably hadn’t played in before. So we’ll take (the win).”
Campbell converted a steal into a layup with 1:25 left in regulation to give the Hawks a 58-56 lead. Tete answered with a basket less than 30 seconds later to force overtime.
Campbell then scored Ankeny’s first three points in the first extra period to erase Southeast Polk’s 60-58 lead.
“That was really good to see for Jasani, especially as a sophomore,” Carlson said. “That could be a big stepping stone for him as far as knowing that he can compete in this league.”
The Rams regained a 63-61 lead on the strength of three free throws before Aguirre made two of his own with 25 seconds left to force a second overtime. Aguirre went 9-for-9 at the charity stripe.
Luke Anderson had nine points for Ankeny, including a 3-pointer with 2:29 left that erased Southeast Polk’s final lead of the game.
“That was a huge 3,” Carlson said.
Sorensen eventually scored the game-winner off a miss by Aguirre.
“That was a good effort,” Campbell said. “At halftime he was a little bit down on himself, but we kept telling him to stay confident and he found it at the end.”
The Hawks will host a non-conference game against Cedar Falls on Thursday. The Tigers (4-0) routed their first three opponents before handing defending Class 4A state runner-up Cedar Rapids Kennedy its first loss, 79-73, on Tuesday.
“We’ll keep battling,” Carlson said. “We have another tough one up next.”
