The holiday break is coming at a good time for the Ankeny girls’ basketball team.
The 15th-ranked Hawkettes suffered their fifth straight loss on Thursday, dropping a 41-37 decision to visiting Cedar Falls. Junior guard Karis Finley, a Drake recruit, scored 18 points as the No. 10 Tigers (6-2) won their third consecutive game.
“We just played five teams that are in the top 10 or 12 in the state over our last five (games),” said Ankeny coach Nate Tobey, whose team fell to 4-5 on the season. “It doesn’t stop after break by any means, but it’s good to get a physical and mental break for these girls.”
Ankeny shot just 23.4 percent from the field (11-of-47), including 3-of-17 from 3-point range. The Hawkettes fell behind at the end of the first quarter, 15-7, and could not get any closer than four points the rest of the way.
If you throw out a 73-37 loss to No. 1 Johnston last month, Cedar Falls is allowing just 35 points per game.
“We knew that they were very good defensively,” Tobey said. “I was hoping we’d be able to knock down some more tough shots, but it just didn’t fall for us. We made another crazy rally at the end, but we were just in too big of a hole again for the third straight game.”
Cedar Falls held a 19-13 advantage at halftime and eventually took its biggest lead, 36-23, early in the fourth quarter. After a 3-pointer by Ankeny’s Jayla Williams, Finley responded with a basket for the Tigers.
Ainsley Kiene then scored six consecutive points for the Hawkettes. She made a pair of free throws, converted a layup and then hit two more free throws to cut Cedar Falls’ lead to 38-32 with 43.8 seconds left.
Savannah Gage connected on another pair of free throws to pull Ankeny within 38-34 with 24.2 seconds to go. But she fouled out shortly thereafter, and Cedar Falls’ Sophie Stanic made the the first of two free throws to make it 39-34.
Finley then hit two more free throws with 11.5 seconds left to seal the win before the Hawkettes got a 3-pointer from Allison Hawkins at the buzzer. The Tigers scored 16 of their last 26 points at the charity stripe.
“They do that against a lot of teams,” Tobey said. “They’re a physical team and they do a good job of taking care of the ball, and (Grace) Hannam really controls things inside. Credit to them–they’re going to be a great team at the end of the season.”
Kiene scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half to lead Ankeny. She also grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Williams contributed nine points, two assists and three steals. Gage also finished with nine points.
The Hawkettes will return to action on Jan. 3 with a CIML Conference game at No. 3 Waukee Northwest (5-2, 6-2). The Wolves are coming off a 63-36 win on Friday at No. 14 Southeast Polk.
