For the third time in the last four games, the Ankeny Centennial girls’ basketball team let a halftime lead slip away.
The fourth-ranked Jaguars were able to recover in those previous games to defeat Cedar Rapids Prairie and Ankeny, but they weren’t as fortunate on Friday at No. 3 Waukee Northwest.
The Wolves used a 15-1 run in the third quarter to build a 36-27 advantage and went on to post a 47-41 victory in a CIML Conference game. They improved to 8-2 in the league and 10-2 overall, while Centennial’s records dropped to 4-4 and 7-4.
“The third quarters haven’t been great to us lately, and I’m not really sure why,” said Centennial coach Scott DeJong. “We’ve got to make better adjustments and do something to come out better in the second half against these teams. You can’t afford any lull, especially one that long.”
Northwest completed a sweep of the season series, despite going just 4-of-10 at the free-throw line and committing 16 turnovers. The Wolves shot 46.3 percent from the field (19-of-41) and outrebounded Centennial by a 34-23 margin.
“They made a lot of very timely baskets, which was probably the difference in the game,” DeJong said.
The Jaguars took their biggest lead, 21-15, on a basket by Jaeden Pratt with 2 minutes 7 seconds left in the second quarter. But she took a hard fall shortly thereafter and was slow to get up, then sat out the rest of the half as Northwest closed the gap to 21-19 at the break.
Pratt returned to the court in the third quarter and scored again to give her team a 26-21 lead, but the Jaguars then went cold while Northwest found its shooting stroke from the perimeter. The Wolves got a trio of 3-point goals from Vana Bilic, Kennedy Princehouse and Sadie McCann in their 15-1 run that turned the game around.
Northwest appeared to be in command when Cassidy Danburg made a jumper with the shot clock winding down to give the Wolves a 41-33 lead with 4:12 remaining. But the Jaguars then responded with an 8-0 run, tying the game at 41-41 on a basket by Mya Crawford with 1:43 to go.
However, Centennial never scored again.
Northwest regained the lead on a driving layup by Leah Janulewicz with 54 seconds left. McCann then made four free throws over the final 26 seconds to seal the win.
The Jaguars shot just 33.3 percent from the field (16-of-48).
“It was tough to score inside, especially when you don’t move the ball,” DeJong said. “Once we moved the ball and got it in and back out, we had some really good shots. But maybe we got tired a little bit, missing those shots.”
Pratt led Centennial with 12 points, nine rebounds and three steals. Ava Martin went 3-of-5 from behind the arc and contributed 10 points, while Crawford added eight points, four assists and two blocks.
Danburg had 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting and five blocks for the Wolves. McCann, a freshman, also scored 11 points off the bench.
Janulewicz finished with 10 points, five assists and two steals. Logan Vogt grabbed eight rebounds.
The Jaguars will host a conference game against Urbandale on Tuesday. The J-Hawks are 0-9 in the league and 2-10 overall.
Centennial won the first meeting at Urbandale, 66-32, on Dec. 13.
