The Ankeny boys’ basketball team led almost the entire way during Tuesday’s game at Urbandale.
The J-Hawks led, though, when it mattered the most.
Jaxson Cathcart made two free throws with 2.1 seconds left to cap off a 12-3 run, and Urbandale escaped with a 62-61 victory over the Hawks in a CIML Conference game.
“I like how hard our team plays,” said Ankeny coach Brandt Carlson. “But (Urbandale) played hard too, and they deserved to win.”
The J-Hawks started their comeback after Rio Aguirre made a pair of free throws to give Ankeny a 58-50 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Cathcart and Jake Pargeon answered with back-to-back baskets, then Davis Hardersen made a 3-point goal to cut the Hawks’ lead to 58-57 with 1:18 remaining.
Ankeny’s Luke Anderson swished a 3-pointer with 53 seconds left to give his team a 61-57 advantage, but Hardersen then responded with another trey to pull the J-Hawks within 61-60 with 30 seconds to go.
After the Hawks missed two free throws, Urbandale worked the ball inside to Caleb Hadden, who missed a short hook shot in the lane with about 5 seconds left. But Cathcart grabbed the rebound and was fouled on his putback attempt.
The senior guard then calmly sank both free throws–sandwiched around an Ankeny timeout.
“You give up two big 3s, miss a couple of free throws, (and then allow) a huge offensive rebound for them, and if we get that we win,” Carlson said. “Probably any one of those four scenarios is different, we win. But that’s how close games go.”
Ankeny still had one final possession with a chance to pull out the win. The Hawks inbounded the ball to Drew Sorensen near midcourt, but his desperation heave at the buzzer bounced off the front of the rim as time expired.
The J-Hawks, who were coming off a 77-52 win over Des Moines Hoover on Monday, improved to 6-10 in the conference and 9-11 overall. Ankeny’s records dropped to 6-9 and 10-10.
The Hawks had won the first meeting at Ankeny, 60-50, on Feb. 7. They lost the rematch despite making 13-of-31 attempts from behind the arc (41.9 percent).
“It’s frustrating,” said Carlson, whose team was looking to rebound from last Tuesday’s 66-43 loss to Dowling Catholic. “We’re playing for pride and getting ready for tournament play. We’ve got to understand that a week from now, your season is over (with a loss like this). We’ve got to regroup for Thursday and hopefully we’ll play better, and then get ready for next week.”
Aguirre led Ankeny with 18 points and also dished out 12 assists for a double-double. Jasani Campbell scored 16 points, and Anderson chipped in 11.
Pargeon paced the J-Hawks’ balanced attack with 14 points, and Hardersen finished with 12. Hadden grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
Aguirre had 11 of his points in the first quarter as the Hawks jumped out to a 22-16 lead. Dylan Gloviak then scored all seven of his points in the second period as Ankeny held a 37-31 margin at the break.
Kael Roush connected on a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left in the third quarter to give his team a 49-43 advantage, but Jackson Sturdivant then made a runner at the buzzer to pull Urbandale to within four points.
The J-Hawks used a zone defense the whole way, but it was particularly effective in the fourth quarter–when they held Ankeny to just three baskets.
“It’s very effective,” Carlson said. “They’ve done it all year, and they don’t come out of it no matter what. You’ve just got to deal with it. I thought late we just made a couple of crucial errors–lazy passes that in a sense might be the right play but not the right time.”
The Hawks will close out the regular season on Thursday with another conference game at fourth-ranked Waukee Northwest, which is 11-3 in the league and 17-3 overall after rolling to an 83-42 win over Des Moines North on Monday. The Wolves have won their last seven games, including a 68-63 triumph at Ankeny on Feb. 3.
Northwest needs a win, and a victory by No. 8 Waukee at No. 3 Valley, to remain alive for a share of the conference title.
