It’s time for the Ankeny Centennial boys’ basketball team to put the regular season in the rear-view mirror.
“The records don’t matter in the postseason,” said Centennial senior Sean Tunks.
The Jaguars closed out the regular season on Thursday with a 53-49 loss to visiting Southeast Polk. It was a matchup of two squads trying to avoid finishing in the cellar of the CIML Conference.
The Rams avenged a 52-49 loss to Centennial on Feb. 7, allowing them to finish 2-14 in the conference and improve to 8-14 overall. The Jaguars’ records are now 1-15 and 4-16.
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight,” said Centennial coach Bob Fontana. “It was (a dogfight) over there two weeks ago–a similar score and similar pace of the game.”
The Jaguars took a 23-19 lead on a jumper by Devin Vessely late in the second quarter, but Southeast Polk then scored the last five points of the half. A 3-point goal by Grady Braunshweigh-Norris with 6 seconds left gave the Rams a 24-23 advantage at the break.
Centennial never led again.
“We didn’t do a good job of keeping the ball out of the lane the first half,” Fontana said. “And that 3 at the end of the half was a big play for them.”
Centennial tied it at 29-29 in the third quarter before the Rams answered with seven straight points. Rex Smith capped the run with a layup following a wild scramble under the basket.
The Jaguars then responded with a 7-0 run of their own. Tunks made a 3-pointer, Cayden Clark converted a layup at the buzzer, and Tunks then added another basket to tie it at 36-36 early in the final period.
Tunks, who played his freshman and sophomore years at Southeast Polk, scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half. He also finished with six rebounds and two assists.
“I’ve had a good relationship with a lot of (the players) and I still have a good relationship with coach (Alan) Jenkins, so it was fun playing against them,” Tunks said. “They’re a good team.”
Smith made a 3-pointer with 7:12 remaining to give the Rams the lead for good, 39-36. He later scored again to make it 46-43 after Centennial failed to convert a few chances to either tie the game or take the lead.
“We had some good looks in the fourth quarter, and they went in and out,” Fontana said. “We’ve had some good looks lately, but we just haven’t been able to knock them down. We just have to keep shooting with confidence.”
With the shot clock winding down, Southeast Polk’s Luke Bartlett missed a 3-pointer with about 40 seconds to go, but the Rams grabbed the offensive rebound. Centennial was then forced to start fouling.
“They outrebounded us by a 27-20 margin,” Fontana said. “They also outscored us 8-2 at the line. Those were big differences in the game.”
Southeast Polk made 7-of-8 free throws in the final 34 seconds to seal the win. The Jaguars attempted only three free throws on the night–and that came when Tunks was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 9 seconds left.
Cabryn Klingner scored nine points and had two blocks for Centennial, Luke Mitchell chipped in eight points, and Cayden Clark added seven. Rex Jensen contributed four steals.
Smith led the Rams with 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists and a block. Braunshweigh-Norris added 13 points and three steals.
Centennial will travel to Sioux City North on Monday for a Class 4A substate quarterfinal against the Stars (9-11).
“We’ll take a day off, then use a couple days to prepare for them and go up there and hopefully come home with a win,” Fontana said.
North is led by junior guard Kal Chamberlain, who averages nearly 20 points per game and is shooting a Class 4A-best 95.2 percent at the charity stripe (79-of-83).
“They’re good, but it’s definitely a winnable game,” Tunks said. “They score the ball well, but if we play together and pass the ball like I know we can, we’ll definitely get a win.”
The winner will play at fourth-ranked Waukee Northwest (18-3) in a substate semifinal on Feb. 28.
