The Marshalltown girls’ basketball team entered Saturday’s Class 5A regional semifinal at Ankeny Centennial with a chance to reach double digits in victories for the first time since the 2006-07 season.
The fourth-ranked Jaguars quickly made sure, though, that it wouldn’t happen.
Centennial jumped out to a 33-2 lead at the end of the first quarter, extended the margin to 54-6 at halftime and cruised to a 68-17 win over the Bobcats, who finished their best season in nearly 20 years at 9-14.
“We got off to a good start, which was great to see!” said Centennial senior forward Jaeden Pratt. “During the postseason it’s nice to have a week to prepare. We can focus on the team as a whole and prepare for the next games at hand.”
Pratt scored 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting, grabbed nine rebounds, had six steals, and also dished out four assists while playing only the first two quarters. She is now 14 points away from the 1,000-point career milestone.
“She was very efficient,” Centennial coach Scott DeJong said of Pratt. “You take those assists along with those points in just one half, and that’s pretty impressive. She’s a competitor, and we definitely lean on her. Hopefully, she’ll continue to produce like that.”
Finley Blackmore and Mya Crawford each chipped in nine points for Centennial, while Lizzie Beam and Ava Martin each added eight. The Jaguars shot 49.1 percent from the field (26-of-53).
Marshalltown was coming off a 53-10 win over Des Moines East in a regional quarterfinal on Wednesday, but the Bobcats had been routed by Southeast Polk, 54-11, in their only previous game against a CIML Conference opponent on Dec. 16. Saturday’s game turned into another mismatch.
“They came in with the third-best defensive average in the state, but I believe we had the third-toughest schedule in the state and everybody in our conference is pretty similar,” DeJong said. “It’s a huge difference in competition.”
Ellie Hughes had six points to lead Marshalltown, which shot just 24.1 percent (7-of-29) and committed 27 turnovers. The Bobcats were also outrebounded by a 28-19 margin.
“We were impressed with how we came out and how focused and determined we were,” DeJong said. “It was good to see us play to the level we wanted to.”
It was the fourth straight win for Centennial (15-7), which will host No. 13 Southeast Polk (10-12) in a regional final on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Rams advanced with a 63-34 triumph over Ottumwa.
The Jaguars are seeking their fifth consecutive trip to the state tournament, but they’ll have to beat their conference rival for the third time in 19 days in order to advance to Wells Fargo Arena.
“Southeast Polk will be tough to play again,” Pratt said. “We have played them three times in three weeks so it will definitely be a hard-fought game due to both teams not wanting their seasons to end. They have great athletes and a good coaching staff as well, so it will be good representation for the CIML.”
Centennial posted a 62-47 win at Southeast Polk on Feb. 7. The Jaguars then won the rematch on their home court, 60-52, a week later.
“The teams know each other real well, and that seems to make it more competitive and more intense,” DeJong said. “But we’re playing at home, and hopefully we’ll play well. And we’re going to have to because Southeast Polk has a really good team.”
