There was no time for the Ankeny Centennial girls’ basketball team to dwell on Friday’s loss at Waukee.
The fourth-ranked Jaguars had to play a rare Saturday afternoon game less than 24 hours later.
Centennial traveled to Ames for a non-conference contest and rolled to a 60-21 victory over the Little Cyclones. The Jaguars improved to 11-6 on the season, while Ames’ record dropped to 9-9.
“It was good to get back out there right away,” said Centennial coach Scott DeJong. “Rather than sit around and think about the loss, it’s good to get your team back together and go forward.”
Centennial jumped out to a 21-5 lead at the end of the first quarter and extended the margin to 37-9 at halftime. The Jaguars later held Ames scoreless in the final period.
“We think our defense can be just a little bit better,” DeJong said. “That’s what we really focused on, trying to get a little more disruption going on than we did Friday and be a little more consistent on both sides of the floor.”
Jaeden Pratt led four Centennial players in double figures with 14 points. She also had 13 rebounds and five steals.
Mya Crawford contributed 12 points, three assists and two blocks. Finley Blackmore matched her season-high with 11 points, eight of them in the first quarter.
Ava Martin also scored 11 points. She went 3-of-5 from behind the arc for the Jaguars, who finished with eight 3-pointers.
“The balance was good to see,” DeJong said. “It’s tough to get in the lane against Ames, but we were able to move the ball around and make some shots.”
Centennial will travel to Johnston on Tuesday for a CIML Conference game against the No. 1 Dragons, who are 14-0 in the league and 16-0 overall. Johnston can clinch the outright conference crown with a victory.
“We’ve played a lot of good basketball, but good isn’t good enough to beat some of the teams in our conference,” DeJong said. “You have to consistently be at a really high level, and a possession here or there can make all the difference.”
The Dragons won the first meeting at Centennial, 55-43, on Jan. 3. They built a 24-point lead before the Jaguars rallied and closed to within eight midway through the fourth quarter.
“There’s been a lot of challenges, and Johnston is certainly the biggest one,” DeJong said. “We’ll have to play better than the last time. I think the kids know that.”
Johnston has won 92 of its last 94 games while winning two of the last three Class 5A championships.
“Their run has been impressive,” DeJong said. “They have a lot of talented players, but it’s actually remarkable how they’ve gotten all those kids to play together. I’ve never seen them play selfishly.”
