(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
Many have tried in the last 43 games, but none have succeeded and Ankeny Centennial was the latest girls’ basketball team to add to Johnston’s long winning streak.
The fourth-ranked Jaguars attempted to pull off a big road upset of No. 1 Johnston on Tuesday, but the nation’s No. 13 squad according to SI.com pulled away in the second half for a 68-49 victory that allowed them to clinch the outright CIML Conference title.
“I thought we played hard enough, just not good enough, and on a night like this, they were going to be hard to beat for anybody,” said Centennial coach Scott DeJong.
Just two games earlier, Johnston’s long winning streak and undefeated season were put in jeopardy when No. 2 Dowling Catholic pushed it to its limits, but the Dragons pulled out a two-point win in the final seconds.
Centennial lost to Johnston by 12 points in the first meeting on Jan. 3, when the Dragons used a 19-6 run in the second quarter to take control of the game.
The Jaguars relied on some sharpshooting from beyond the arc to stick with Johnston in the first half of the rematch.
Ava Martin poured in 12 points in the first two periods on a trio of 3-point goals and a traditional 3-point play. She finished with a season-high 16 points while also contributing seven rebounds and three steals.
“Ava is a gamer–she’s tough and she competes really hard,” DeJong said. “Her shot was floating up there, and it would’ve been nice if we got her a couple more looks. But she competes hard and even in warmups all of her shots were going in. She played really well.”
Fellow senior Jaeden Pratt and sophomore Lizzie Beam also got some deep shots to fall as the trio sank all six of the team’s 3-pointers in the first half. Beam scored a career-high 12 points, while Pratt chipped in eight.
Johnston threatened to run away with the game just before halftime with a 12-point lead, but Beam, Pratt and senior Mya Crawford closed out the final minutes with a 7-2 run to pull the Jaguars within 32-25 at the break.
Centennial got to within five early in the second half before Johnston pulled away. Despite Crawford scoring 10 of her 11 points in the third quarter, the Dragons converted too many shots and built a 54-37 advantage.
Johnston’s Jenica Lewis caught fire early and never cooled off. She had 13 points in the first half, 12 more in the third quarter and finished the night 10-of-14 from the field for a game-high 28 points.
Lewis went 7-of-9 from behind the arc.
“They just shot incredibly well, and there was nothing easy,” DeJong said. “(Jenica) was in the zone, and it’s really hard to stop her because the shots were coming from 25-26 feet and she was only hitting net. I’m not sure what her percentage was at the end, but you got her and (Amani) Jenkins playing at a really high level and it’s difficult.”
Jenkins, a Virginia Tech commit, backed Lewis up with 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting. The Dragons shot 60 percent from the field and over 56 percent from 3 as a team, while Centennial shot about 32 percent overall and from behind the arc.
“I give their coaching staff a huge credit,” DeJong said. “They play extremely unselfishly, and they’re highly connected. When you have that many really good players and they play together that well, it’s a great formula and that’s why they’ve had the run they’ve been on.”
The Dragons improved to 15-0 in the conference and 17-0 overall. Centennial’s records dropped to 6-7 and 11-7.
The Jaguars will travel to Southeast Polk on Friday for their first matchup against the No. 14 Rams, who are coming off a 77-50 loss at Dowling. They are 5-8 in the league and 8-10 overall.
“We’ve got Southeast Polk, so we’ve got to come out swinging and fighting because it’s going to be another hard game,” DeJong said.
