The Ankeny Centennial boys’ basketball team was looking to pull off an upset Friday against a top-10 opponent.
Unfortunately, the Jaguars picked the wrong night to face visiting Dowling Catholic.
The ninth-ranked Maroons shot 63.5 percent from the field (33-of-52), including 11-of-19 from 3-point range (57.9 percent), and rolled to an 80-41 victory.
Dowling bounced back from a 74-62 loss to No. 2 Valley on Tuesday. The Maroons improved to 6-3 in the CIML Conference and 9-3 overall, while Centennial’s records dropped to 0-10 and 1-10.
“We had some inconsistent shot selection at times,” said Centennial coach Bob Fontana, whose team had dropped a 69-54 decision at Dowling last month. “When you add the live-ball turnovers to that, it makes it tough because they got some runouts on us and hit a bunch of 3-pointers.”
Nobody was hotter than Dowling’s Nathan Jenkins, who went 8-of-8 from the field and 5-of-5 from behind the arc. He scored a game-high 21 points.
“He was shooting 22 percent from 3,” Fontana said. “I knew when he made 5 3s, it was their night and not ours. And they also beat us on the boards (33-16), so it was not a good recipe for us.”
Noah Martens had 14 points and six assists for the Maroons. Charlie Crane added six points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Dowling jumped out to a 22-7 lead at the end of the first quarter and extended the advantage to 39-16 at halftime. The Maroons led after three periods, 60-26.
Cabryn Klingner scored 10 points to lead the Jaguars, who shot just 27.3 percent overall (12-of-44). Evan Abbott and Cayden Clark each added nine points.
“We just have to stay the course and continue to try to take steps forward and have a positive mindset,” Fontana said.
The schedule only gets tougher for Centennial, which will host two-time defending Class 4A state champion Valley on Tuesday. The Tigers are 9-1 in the league and 10-2 overall after posting a 62-49 victory over No. 3 Waukee Northwest on Friday.
The Jaguars lost the first meeting at Valley, 68-44, on Dec. 20.
