Nobody could blame Ankeny girls’ basketball coach Nate Tobey for thinking that Friday was Groundhog Day.
The 15th-ranked Hawkettes dropped a 49-48 decision to visiting Southeast Polk in a CIML Conference game that was eerily similar to last month’s meeting in Pleasant Hill, where the No. 14 Rams nearly blew an 18-point lead before holding on for a 61-55 victory.
“It was very similar to the first game,” said Tobey. “We get down and come back in the fourth quarter and have three or four possessions where you can take the lead, but we aren’t able to convert.”
Southeast Polk led most of the way on Friday, thanks to a 13-0 run in each half. Ankeny took a 30-25 lead on a basket by Ainsley Kiene midway through the third quarter before the Rams rallied.
Alyssa Bartlett scored five of her 12 points during the run that put Southeast Polk ahead for good. She converted a 3-point play to give her team a 31-30 lead, then later added a pair of free throws to push the advantage to 38-30.
“We had good looks at the basket from 3 during those (runs), and they just didn’t fall,” Tobey said. “You know, I love our shooters’ aggressiveness, but it would have been nice to get to the basket and find a way to break up those runs.”
Southeast Polk took its biggest lead, 44-33, on a basket by Zoe Hinze early in the fourth quarter. She led the Rams with 15 points.
The Hawkettes then got a 3-point goal from Kyla Schaapveld with 6 minutes 11 seconds left to ignite a rally. Schaapveld later connected on another trey with 1:20 remaining to cut the deficit to 46-43.
Ankeny had three chances in the final 1:08 to tie the game with a 3-pointer, but each time the Hawkettes’ shot bounced off the rim. Jayla Williams missed the last try from the top of the key with about 7 seconds left, and Southeast Polk’s Brooklynn Ruddy grabbed the rebound.
After being fouled, Ruddy banked in her first free throw with 5.6 seconds to go to seal the victory. She missed her second attempt, and Ankeny’s Savannah Gage made a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to produce the final margin.
“We executed better down the stretch tonight than we did in the last game, but ultimately we couldn’t get the shots to fall,” Tobey said.
Hallie Vander Weerdt scored 10 points and Ruddy added eight for the Rams, who improved to 4-7 in the conference and 6-9 overall. Ankeny’s records dropped to 4-8 and 7-9.
Kiene led all scorers with 17 points. She also had eight rebounds and five assists.
Gage chipped in 12 points, two steals and three blocks.Williams was held to seven points–about half her average–but grabbed a team-high 11 boards.
“Jayla was just in foul trouble, so she was really out of the flow,” Tobey said. “We ask a lot out of her defensively too, and she was really unselfish when the defense collapsed and was able to find people. Just her aggressiveness and gravity really help us even when she’s not scoring a ton of points.”
The Hawkettes will host a non-conference game against Indianola (4-9) on Monday.
