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, 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 percent overall. 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.
