This was the Ankeny girls’ basketball team that was eighth in Class 5A in the preseason rankings and moved up to sixth after a 4-0 start.
The now-No. 15 Hawkettes overcame an early nine-point deficit to beat No. 8 Waukee, 57-45, in a CIML Conference game on Tuesday at Ankeny. It was the second straight win for coach Nate Tobey’s squad following a seven-game losing skid.
“They definitely did play looser (after beating Valley on Friday), and they were having fun out there,” said Tobey. “Every game in the CIML is tough and stressful and you face a lot of pressure, but I feel like we’re figuring out what it takes to win in this league this year. I’m looking forward to the last month or so.”
Jayla Williams had a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds, going 8-of-9 at the free-throw line. She nearly matched the 23-point, 14-rebound performance that she had in last month’s 56-53 loss at Waukee.
“We played really hard,” said Williams, who also contributed three steals and four blocks. “I think we were fighting all the way until the end, and we tried to keep the lead that we had.”
Savannah Gage went 3-for-7 from 3-point range and scored a season-high 19 points. Ainsley Kiene added eight points, eight boards and four assists.
Ankeny had just eight turnovers while moving ahead of the Warriors and into a tie with No. 14 Southeast Polk for fifth place in the conference. The Hawkettes are now 4-6 in the league and 6-7 overall, while Waukee’s records dropped to 3-6 and 7-6.
“We battled some adversity there in stretches,” Gage said. “Waukee is a really good team, but I’m really proud of how we stuck together and pulled out the win.”
Waukee jumped out to an early 14-5 lead before Ankeny rallied. Gage scored 10 points in the second quarter, including a step-back jumper at the buzzer, as the Hawkettes closed the gap to 25-23 at halftime.
“Having momentum is a huge factor,” Gage said. “We’ve worked really hard, and I knew this group would persevere. I’m just really proud of our efforts tonight.”
Williams then took over in the second half. She scored the first 10 points in an 18-6 run that gave Ankeny a 41-31 advantage after three quarters.
Williams said she responded to some trash talk from the Warriors.
“They were chirping, and I wasn’t going to let them do that,” she said.
After her scoring spree, Williams then passed to Kyla Schaapveld for a 3-point goal. Gage followed with another trey before Kiene added a pair of free throws to close out the period.
“We can play with great space, and it makes it really hard for defenses to make decisions–especially when Jayla is willing to attack the basket the way that she is and Savannah is being aggressive with her 3-point shot,” Tobey said. “That helps us so much offensively.
“I’m really proud of the girls on how they bounced back. There were some opportunities to kind of fold there early, but we really challenged them in the first couple of huddles that we had and they responded great. It was so nice to see us rise to the challenge,” he added.
Emily Sorensen led Waukee with 13 points. Freshman Abbajay Peters, the Warriors’ leading scorer, finished with seven after going scoreless for three quarters.
Peters had scored 25 points in the earlier win over Ankeny.
“She’s a really good point guard and can produce shots for her teammates,” Williams said. “I just tried not letting her get hot and was making her produce shots for her teammates instead of letting her take all the shots. She’s a big role player for them and gets hot in moments when they need them.”
The Hawkettes will travel to Johnston on Friday for another conference game. The No. 1 Dragons are 10-0 in the league and 12-0 overall after rallying from a nine-point halftime deficit for a 57-48 win at No. 3 Waukee Northwest on Tuesday.
Johnston won the first meeting at Ankeny, 72-36, on Dec. 10.
