For the second year in a row, the Ankeny boys’ basketball team played in the CIML/MVC Crossover event and came away with an impressive victory.
The Hawks broke away from a tie in the fourth quarter to defeat Linn-Mar (Marion), 61-55, on Saturday at the Alliant Energy Powerhouse in Cedar Rapids.
“It’s a good venue and a fun environment,” said Ankeny coach Brandt Carlson, whose team topped Bettendorf in last year’s event. “It’s a good event for both conferences, and we were just glad to be a part of it.”
Ankeny held a 33-30 advantage at halftime. Linn-Mar then forged a 44-44 tie after three quarters before the Hawks dominated the final period.
“They kind of let us hang around,” Carlson said of the Lions. “I think they’re a really good team and had some things going well for them early on, but they kind of went away from it and that allowed us to stay in it. The big thing for us is that we were able to clear rebounds, and that gave us a shot at a lot of second-chance points. We finally got some 3s to go down too, so it was a good start to the second half of the season.”
Ankeny raised its record to 3-4 while handing Linn-Mar (6-2) just its second loss of the season. The Lions’ only previous loss came to Cedar Falls, which also defeated the Hawks in their last game prior to the holiday break.
Rio Aguirre had 21 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to lead Ankeny. He made three of the team’s eight 3-point goals.
Drew Sorensen and Jasani Campbell each chipped in 10 points, and Luke Anderson added eight. Campbell also had three steals.
“Luke had a 3 late in the third quarter and then another in the middle of the fourth, and we were able to go on a little bit of a run,” Carlson said. “Jasani made a big basket late, and Dylan (Gloviak) had a big 3. There were a lot of guys playing really well and confidently.”
Davis Kern, a 6-foot-9 senior forward, led Linn-Mar with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks. But he went 0-for-5 from 3-point range–part of the Lions’ 6-of-22 effort from behind the arc–and eventually fouled out.
Linn-Mar was coming off a 90-65 win over Dubuque Wahlert on Friday.
“We felt like if we could hold them under 60 we’d be in good shape, and it worked out,” Carlson said. “They played the night before, and I think that definitely had an impact. (Kern) looked fatigued. We were just physical and ran a couple of guys at him and made things as hard as we could, but he’s very good. And I’m sure they’ll have a shot at going to state later in the season.”
The Hawks will travel to Ankeny Centennial on Tuesday for a CIML Conference game against the Jaguars. They won the first matchup, 58-48, on Dec. 6.
