In its previous six games against the top four teams in the CIML Conference and Class 5A, the Ankeny girls’ basketball squad had lost by an average of 21.7 points.
On Monday night, the 15th-ranked Hawkettes nearly knocked off one of the league’s heavyweights.
Ankeny led for much of the second half before No. 3 Waukee Northwest opened the fourth quarter with a 15-3 run and then held on for a 54-51 road victory to complete a sweep of the season series.
“It was close, but then they came out in the fourth and hit a few big shots,” said Ankeny junior Jayla Williams, who poured in a game-high 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting. “It was tied and we were kind of going back and forth from then, and they just came out on top.”
Ankeny took a 41-35 lead when Kyla Schaapveld made a 3-point goal at the buzzer to end the third quarter. But the Wolves then answered with some treys of their own.
Vana Bilic made a 3-pointer to open the final period, then Logan Vogt followed with two more to give Northwest the lead for good, 44-43, with 5 minutes 21 seconds left. The Wolves went 7-of-17 from behind the arc (41.2 percent).
“You can’t give their shooters an inch of space, because they’ll knock down shots,” said Ankeny coach Nate Tobey. “They’re just so skilled offensively that they put so much pressure on a defense and make it hard to execute.”
Northwest eventually built a 50-44 advantage on a pair of free throws by Cassidy Danburg with 2:10 remaining, but Ankeny made one final push. Reagan Baldwin hit a 3-pointer at the 1:23 mark, then Williams followed with a pair of driving layups to cut the Wolves’ lead to 53-51 with 27 seconds left.
“Our team was really spaced out, so it felt like they couldn’t really help out if we had Reagan or Ainsley (Kiene) in the corner,” Williams said.
Vogt made the second of two free throws with 8.4 seconds to go to make it 54-51, but the Hawkettes had one final possession to try for a tying 3-pointer.
After Northwest committed its fourth team foul with 4.5 seconds left, Ankeny inbounded the ball to Williams near midcourt. She dribbled in against defender Leah Janulewicz and created some space at the top of the key, but Vogt helped out and partially blocked her shot as time expired.
It was the third block of the game for Vogt, a 6-foot-1 sophomore.
“It was tough, especially because they were face-guarding so nobody could get a shot,” Williams said. “We just had to take what we could, and it couldn’t fall in just a few seconds.”
It was the fifth consecutive win for the Wolves, who improved to 12-3 in the conference and 15-3 overall. Ankeny’s records dropped to 4-10 and 8-11.
“It was a similar story to some other big games that we’ve been in,” Tobey said. “You just don’t have that one more shot to fall in the second half, but I’m proud of our girls’ effort–especially going into the fourth quarter.”
Neither team led by more than three points in the first half. Williams scored a basket at the buzzer to give the Hawkettes a 22-20 lead at halftime.
Williams then scored 11 of her points in the third quarter.
“I think we were moving the ball well and using our mismatches,” Williams said. “If a big was on a guard or vice versa, I think we used our mismatches well.”
It was a season-high output for Williams, whose career-high of 32 came in a game at Southeast Polk last season. She also had 10 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
“She was really good in transition,” Tobey said. “We’ve trained her to go until somebody stops her. She did a great job with that tonight and also showed her unselfishness at times by passing the ball.”
Kiene had nine points, six boards and six assists in the loss, while Savannah Gage contributed six assists, two steals and two blocks. Baldwin chipped in eight points.
Bilic led Northwest with 16 points, while Vogt had 14. Danburg finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, and Romey Croatt dished out four assists.
Ankeny will host another conference game on Friday against Urbandale. It will be the Hawkettes’ Senior Night.
Ankeny won the first meeting at Urbandale, 67-25, on Nov. 26. The J-Hawks are 0-13 in the league and 4-14 overall after posting a 70-45 win at Fort Dodge on Monday.
Williams said she thinks Monday’s game shows that her team is capable of making some noise in the postseason.
“I think so, if we keep playing like that,” she said. “Playing as a team and hitting our big shots that we need to keep our lead, and not letting teams come back.”