The Ankeny boys’ basketball team was hoping to get another shot at CIML Conference rival Valley, the two-time defending Class 4A state champion.
But Dallas Center-Grimes senior guard Kyle Cason had plenty of motivation to play the Tigers, too.
The Valley transfer scored a school-record 46 points to lead the Mustangs to a 76-69 victory in a Class 4A substate semifinal on Friday at Ankeny.
“That’s a lot of points and a lot of free throws made too,” Ankeny coach Brandt Carlson said of Cason, who went 17-of-18 at the charity stripe. “I thought he did a great job. He had 20 against us the last time, and what we tried didn’t work. It was frustrating, but at the same time they’re a good team.”
Cason had 30 of his points in the second half as Dallas Center-Grimes overcame a 37-32 halftime deficit. The Mustangs (19-5) will play at third-ranked Valley (19-3) in the substate final on Tuesday.
Cason was a key player on the Tigers’ back-to-back state championship teams.
“He’s a special kid,” Dallas Center-Grimes coach Joel Rankin said of Cason. “He went to Valley, and now we’ll be playing them. It’s going to be interesting.”
Ankeny, meanwhile, finished the season with a 10-12 record. It was the Hawks’ fourth consecutive loss.
“I liked our fight. We were right there,” Carlson said. “It was a disappointing way to end the season, but at some point we’ll reflect on the year overall and we’ll feel good about their effort. I really like our guys. They’re great kids.”
Rio Aguirre led Ankeny with 24 points. Jasani Campbell tied his career-high with 22.
“They’re a great team,” Rankin said of the Hawks. “Rio is really good. Him and Kyle back-to-back are two of the best players in the state.”
Ankeny had posted a 50-48 win at Dallas Center-Grimes on Jan. 21. The Mustangs dropped an 80-49 decision at Ankeny Centennial three days later, but have since reeled off 12 wins in a row.
“We didn’t shoot real well the first game, and they didn’t either,” Rankin said. “I knew that they would be better, and I knew that we would be better. Tate Perrin is kind of our glue, and he didn’t play last time. I was hoping that would make a difference.”
Aguirre scored five straight points midway through the second quarter to give Ankeny a 30-20 lead, its biggest of the game. Perrin and Cason then answered with back-to-back and-ones, allowing the Mustangs to keep it close at the break.
Campbell had 13 of his points in the first half.
“We felt great,” Carlson said. “Everything was going our way. I just thought the game changed call-wise–they were living at the free-throw line. It was tough to keep our momentum. We’re not making our shots, and maybe we panic a little bit.”
Ankeny’s Drew Sorensen made a 3-point goal with about 3 minutes left in the third quarter to give the Hawks a 46-41 advantage. But Dallas Center-Grimes then took control of the game with a 20-5 run, building a 61-51 lead on another 3-point play by Cason with 4 minutes 7 seconds left.
Cason had 14 points during the run, including a step-back 3-pointer to end the third quarter. It was his third trey of the night.
“It was a hard-fought game,” Rankin said. “I was really proud of our guys. We kind of lost our poise a few times, but in tournament basketball you’ve just got to stick with it. You’ve got to stay the course.”
Ankeny went more than 9 minutes without a basket before Aguirre drove for a layup to cut the Mustangs’ lead to 65-57 with 1:45 remaining.
“It felt like (a long drought),” Carlson said. “We’ve just had trouble putting teams away.”
Campbell made his fourth 3-pointer to pull the Hawks within 68-63 with 53 seconds to go, but Perrin made two free throws and then Cason followed with his last six points to seal the win.
Dallas Center-Grimes was coming off a 77-42 victory over Fort Dodge in Monday’s quarterfinal round.
“We got the No. 3 seed and we got to play, and sometimes that’s not bad,” Rankin said. “(Ankeny) missed some shots against us because maybe they haven’t played in eight or nine days. And hopefully, our defense had something to do with it.”
