This year’s version of the Johnston girls’ basketball team might be even better than last year’s state championship squad.
That was the assessment by Ankeny Centennial coach Scott DeJong prior to the holiday break, and the top-ranked Dragons showed on Friday that the gap between them and the rest of the teams in Class 5A is still significant.
Johnston led by as many as 24 points on its way to a 55-43 victory at No. 4 Centennial, snapping the Jaguars’ four-game winning streak. The Dragons have now won 85 of their last 87 games while winning two of the last three Class 5A titles.
“They’re very good and you can’t play below your ‘A’ game and have a chance to win, and certainly we didn’t,” said DeJong. “The second quarter we didn’t play well at all. That was the story of the game.”
After Centennial went on a 10-2 run to erase an early 7-0 deficit and took a 10-9 lead on a basket by Mya Crawford, the Dragons answered with a 22-1 flurry that essentially sealed the outcome. Freshman Kelli Kalb started the run with a 3-pointer that went in after a friendly bounce off the rim, and she later converted another trey to make it 21-11 after Johnston twice grabbed an offensive rebound to keep the possession alive.
“We turned the ball over the first half, and we couldn’t afford that,” DeJong said. “And we got really hurt on the boards. Those two things are disappointing, but we just have to go back to work.”
Jenica Lewis later completed the run with a pair of baskets, giving Johnston a 31-11 lead. The Dragons held a 33-16 advantage at halftime.
Johnston took its biggest lead, 40-16, on a basket by Ari Phillips early in the third quarter. But Centennial then staged a furious rally, getting 3-pointers from Crawford, Jaeden Pratt and Lizzie Beam to close the gap to 42-29 at the end of the period.
“Our comeback in the second half was the biggest positive from the game,” said Crawford. “Johnston is a great team, but I think during our run we found some weakness that was shown. That is only going to help us for the next time we play them (on Feb. 4) as well as for every other game in our conference.”
The Jaguars eventually pulled within 44-36 on a pair of free throws by Crawford with 5 minutes 43 seconds left. The senior guard poured in a season-high 21 points and also had seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
“We battled back in the second half, and that was good to see. We played a lot better,” DeJong said. “I think it was a combination of Johnston being way ahead, but we played a lot better. We were making some baskets, and I thought our demeanor was a lot better. We just have to know that we have to play that way all the time against these top-level teams.”
Centennial had a chance to make it a two-possession game, but committed one of its 17 turnovers with 4:50 remaining. Johnston’s Amani Jenkins then scored a basket 20 seconds later to push the margin back to double digits.
Jenkins finished with 16 points and two blocks, going 6-for-6 at the free-throw line. Lewis had 13 points, two assists and four steals, while Kalb added 10 points.
“The team Johnston has this year plays more as a team compared to last year I think,” Crawford said. “They had many players step up in the second half that helped them keep their lead–they all continued to keep playing. They are No. 1 in the state for many reasons, and they proved that to us.”
The Dragons also held Pratt to a season-low seven points, nine below her average. She grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, but Centennial still lost the battle of the boards, 33-22.
Pratt also contributed three assists, three steals and two blocks. Tillie Smith had six points for the Jaguars on a pair of 3-pointers.
“We need other people to step up and play the way we’ve been practicing,” DeJong said. “But give Johnston credit. They’re a very good defensive team.”
Centennial shot just 34.0 percent from the field (16-of-47), despite making 7-of-17 attempts from behind the arc. The Jaguars dropped to 3-3 in the CIML Conference and 6-3 overall, while Johnston improved its records to 7-0 and 9-0.
Centennial will host a conference game against No. 15 Ankeny on Tuesday. The Hawkettes are 2-5 in the league and 4-6 overall after dropping a 70-49 decision at No. 3 Waukee Northwest on Friday.
The Jaguars won the first meeting, 44-33, on Dec. 6 at Ankeny.
