It might have been the biggest basket of Finley Blackmore’s high school career.
The 5-foot-10 guard scored only two points on Tuesday night, but her pull-up jumper with 1 minute 50 seconds left helped the fourth-ranked Ankeny Centennial girls’ basketball team to a 42-37 victory over No. 13 Southeast Polk in a Class 5A regional final at Centennial, sending the Jaguars to the state tournament for the fifth consecutive year.
“That was a clutch shot by Fin,” said fellow senior Jaeden Pratt, who reached the 1,000-point career milestone while pouring in a game-high 22 points. “We really needed that.”
The Jaguars built a 37-18 lead midway through the third quarter before going scoreless for 10 minutes, allowing Southeast Polk to reel off 15 unanswered points. Alyssa Bartlett had 12 of her 18 points during that stretch, including a bank shot that cut Centennial’s lead to 37-33 with 4:55 remaining.
Southeast Polk had some chances to pull even closer, but the Jaguars’ defense rose to the occasion.
“When I looked up and saw that we were only up four, I kind of started stressing,” said Centennial point guard Mya Crawford, who finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds, six steals and three blocks. “But I knew deep down we’d be able to pull it off. Having confidence in my team and what we’ve gone through and playing the schedule that we’ve played just kind of builds for these moments.”
Only four Centennial players had scored before the big basket by Blackmore, who had missed her lone previous shot and a pair of free throws. She took a pass at the top of the key, dribbled around Southeast Polk defender Zoe Hinze and calmly scored from about 12 feet out.
“We knew we had to get a bucket, and we weren’t really getting anything going,” said Blackmore. “I just thought I’d take it myself.”
Centennial coach Scott DeJong was relieved to see the shot go through the net. The Jaguars shot just 32.6 percent from the field (15-of-46).
“We got some big stops, and then Finley made that huge basket–and that allowed us to catch our breath,” he said. “She just took it right in there, and it floated right in.”
Bartlett responded with a basket 20 seconds later, but the Rams could not get any closer. Pratt made the second of two free throws with 40 seconds left, then Crawford connected on two more with 2.9 seconds to go to make it 42-35 before Bartlett scored a meaningless basket at the buzzer.
“It feels awesome,” said Pratt, who also had nine rebounds and two blocks. “This group has worked so hard. We’ve gotten knocked down, but we’ve also came back up together. It’s really awesome for our seniors and our team that we get to go back (to state) one more time.”
The Jaguars (16-7) defeated their CIML Conference rival for the third time in 19 days. Southeast Polk finished the season at 10-13.
“We played tremendously for most of the game,” DeJong said. “And then what you worry about is you get ahead by (that much) and you lose your focus, and the other team goes on a run and you start feeling the stress of the momentum and the comeback–and that’s what happened.”
Pratt had 18 of her points in the first half as the Jaguars took a 29-15 lead. She made a jumper with 4:30 left in the second quarter to join Crawford as a 1,000-point scorer.
“I kind of lost track of it,” Pratt said of reaching the milestone. “It wasn’t really on my radar this year, but it’s a good accomplishment for myself. I’m just ready to get the job done at the Well.”
Hinze scored the Rams’ first 13 points of the game before Bartlett made a basket at the end of the half. Bartlett then sparked her team’s rally in the second half.
The South Dakota recruit scored a pair of baskets at the end of the third quarter, cutting Centennial’s lead to 37-22. She then scored the first six points of the final period before Halle Clark followed with a 3-point goal.
“Give Southeast Polk credit,” DeJong said. “They kept fighting all the way through.”
Hallie Vander Weerdt had 10 rebounds and six blocks for the Rams, who battled Centennial to a 32-32 draw on the boards. Clark and Hinze each had three of the Rams’ 11 steals.
The game was similar to the regular-season finale at Centennial on Feb. 14, when the Jaguars had an 18-point lead cut to six before holding on for a 60-52 win.
“We knew they were going to come back,” Pratt said. “We saw that the last time we played them, and they’re a tough team. They have some great athletes who can hit some big shots at times. We knew we just had to stay composed and stay together at the end, and if we did, the result was going to take care of itself.”
Blackmore wasn’t worried either.
“I knew that we had it,” she said. “We were going to be fine. We just had to lock down on defense and not allow any 3s.”
Crawford made her free throws in the final seconds after briefly leaving the game late in the fourth quarter. She fell hard to the court after being fouled.
“I just kind of jumped up and (the defender) ran right into me, and I fell and hit my head,” she said. “I’m not for sure what happened, but I’ll be ok.”
The Jaguars will play No. 5 Pleasant Valley (19-4) in a Class 5A quarterfinal on Monday at 11:45 a.m. at Wells Fargo Arena. Isabelle Kremer had 16 points and nine rebounds as the Spartans extended their winning streak to eight games with a 47-37 triumph over No. 9 Waukee on Tuesday.
It will be a rematch of the season opener on Nov. 30 at Cedar Rapids, where Centennial posted a 39-26 victory.
“I’m super excited. We’ve all been looking forward to (state),” Blackmore said. “We know that we can (win the title) as long as we play together. We’re going to be playing a lot of great teams along the way, but we’ll be ready for it.”
