Tuesday’s game at Ankeny Centennial got off to a bad start for the Waukee boys’ basketball team.
The eighth-ranked Warriors lost leading scorer Evan Jacobson to a leg injury in the opening minutes of the contest. Jacobson was helped to the locker room and did not return to action.
“You don’t wish that on anybody, but they had some other kids step up,” said Centennial coach Bob Fontana.
Despite the absence of Jacobson, who was averaging 18.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, Waukee overcame an early 6-2 deficit and went on to post a 61-46 victory over the Jaguars. The win, coupled with Johnston’s stunning 78-51 win at No. 2 Valley, kept the Warriors’ CIML Conference title hopes alive.
Waukee (12-3, 14-5) can now earn a share of the crown with a victory at Valley in the regular-season finale on Feb. 20. The Jaguars, who were coming off their first conference win at Southeast Polk on Friday, are now 1-14 in the league and 4-14 overall.
Centennial got back-to-back 3-point goals from Keaton Kasperbauer and Brody Prill to take a 12-9 lead late in the first quarter. The Jaguars had a chance to extend the margin in the final seconds of the period, but instead Waukee turned a blocked shot into a tying 3-pointer by Maverick Inman at the buzzer.
“That was the spark that they needed to get them going,” Fontana said.
Inman’s trey ignited a 19-2 run that gave the Warriors a 28-14 advantage in the second quarter. Inman had all eight of his points during the run, while freshman Pete Craig chipped in six.
“The second quarter was our downfall,” Fontana said. “We couldn’t keep them out of the lane, and we gave up four or five offensive rebounds and they ended up scoring off of them. Those defensive breakdowns and lack of rebounding coupled with not being able to score the ball was obviously the whole difference in the game.”
Jai White later scored the final five points of the first half to give Waukee a 33-19 lead. He scored 12 of his game-high 20 points in the first two periods.
Centennial closed to within 10 points on three occasions in the third quarter, but the Jaguars were unable to get within single digits. Max Roach then scored seven straight points bridging the final two periods to push the Warriors’ lead to 50-33.
“White really hurt us the first half, and then Roach hurt us the second half,” said Fontana, whose team had dropped a 62-41 decision at Waukee on Jan. 31. “I thought we had some good ball movement in the second half, but we had like three or four 3-pointers in a row that went in and out that could have cut the lead below 10.”
Roach finished with 11 points and five assists. Craig added eight points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, helping the Warriors to a 37-20 advantage on the boards.
Cayden Clark and Cabryn Klingner each had nine points and two assists for Centennial. Sean Tunks, who made back-to-back 3-pointers in the third quarter, finished with eight points and six rebounds.
The Jaguars’ inability to get to the free-throw line was again a factor. They went just 2-of-4 at the charity stripe, marking the fifth time in the last seven games that they attempted six or fewer free throws.
Centennial will travel to Waterloo West on Saturday for a non-conference game against the Wahawks, who improved to 11-7 with a 72-65 win at Dubuque Hempstead on Tuesday.
