Ankeny Centennial’s Ava Martin is on a heater.
The senior guard scored a season-high 18 points on Tuesday to lead the fourth-ranked Jaguars to a 62-46 victory over No. 11 Waukee in a CIML Conference girls’ basketball game at Centennial. She went 7-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range.
“It feels so good,” Martin said after her team avenged a 57-53 loss on Jan. 31. “My teammates do a great job of getting me the ball. When I see (the shots) go in, it makes it all easier to make another one.”
Martin has averaged 16.7 points over the last three games, going 12-of-19 from behind the arc during that stretch. In her previous 17 games, she averaged 6.2 points and was shooting 30.7 percent from deep (20-of-65).
On Tuesday, Martin also contributed six rebounds, three assists and three steals. The win allowed the Jaguars to wrap up a fourth-place finish in the conference.
“Whenever we know we need to win a game, defense is the first thing we think of,” Martin said. “We just knew we really needed to lock in on them tonight.”
Centennial improved to 8-7 in the league and 13-7 overall. The Warriors’ records dropped to 7-9 and 11-10.
“I didn’t know it was a battle for fourth place. We just knew it was a big battle,” said Centennial coach Scott DeJong, whose squad committed just four turnovers. “Two really good teams going at it, and I’m just so proud and pleased how our kids played. We played well on both ends of the floor so it was great to see, especially this time of the year.”
Waukee took an early 10-6 lead before the Jaguars used a 15-3 run to move ahead for good. Martin made a layup to cap the run, which also included seven points from Jaeden Pratt and six more from Mya Crawford.
The Warriors later closed to within 26-25 before Martin hit a 3-pointer to give Centennial a 29-25 advantage at halftime. She had eight of her points in the second quarter.
Martin had another trey during a 10-0 run in the third quarter that extended the Jaguars’ lead to 42-30. The margin eventually grew to 19 points in the final minute following two more 3-pointers by Pratt and Finley Blackmore.
“We were shooting the ball well,” DeJong said. “And we did at Southeast Polk (on Friday) too, so hopefully that continues. I thought our defensive effort and attention to details of the game plan were as good as it’s been.”
Pratt finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, going 2-of-3 from behind the arc. She is now 45 points away from the 1,000-point career milestone.
Crawford racked up 11 points, nine boards, six assists, five steals and a block. Blackmore chipped in seven points.
“It was a quicker preparation (after playing them 12 days ago) so I think it did make it easier,” DeJong said. “Our league is just incredibly tough, so to finish fourth is nothing to sneeze at.”
Centennial will host No. 14 Southeast Polk in its regular-season finale on Friday. It will be the Jaguars’ Senior Night.
The Rams are 6-9 in the conference and 9-11 overall after routing Urbandale, 77-41, on Tuesday. They will be looking to avenge last week’s 62-47 loss to Centennial.
On Wednesday, the Class 5A regional pairings will be announced by the Iowa Girls’ High School Athletic Union.
“We’re excited,” Martin said. “We’re not sure who we’re going to play, but we’re just excited to find out.”
DeJong said his team is starting to look like a squad that can make a deep postseason run.
“We certainly do, especially if we play like we did tonight and Friday night,” he said. “This is the time of the year you want to be playing your best and we’re certainly looking close to that.”
