Jayla Williams scored 20 points and had eight of her team’s 20 steals as the eighth-ranked Ankeny girls’ basketball squad opened its season on Saturday with a 51-32 victory at Ames.
Both teams used a full-court press to turn the non-conference game into a ragged affair. There were 54 combined turnovers and 50 deflections, according to Ankeny coach Nate Tobey.
“It was a unique game for us with it being so far away from the rest of our games in the season, but it was nice to be able to learn,” said Tobey. “It wasn’t always pretty, but we’ll continue to take steps forward.”
While Ames finished with more turnovers (35) than points, the Hawkettes had 19 turnovers of their own. They struggled to handle the Little Cyclones’ defensive pressure at times.
“(Ames) interrupted the flow and kind of kept us from getting into a rhythm and having any consistency offensively,” Tobey said. “So definitely credit to them–we were impressed with their defense. And our defense is also quite a bit ahead of our offense right now, and we look forward to continuing to work on both ends.”
Ankeny jumped out to an early 12-0 lead behind Williams and Ali Aguirre, who combined for all 12 of the points. It took more than 5 minutes for the Little Cyclones to score their first basket.
Aguirre banked in a 3-point goal for her first varsity basket just 51 seconds into the game. The highly-touted freshman went on to finish with 11 points.
“She had a good opportunity this fall to play with our girls, and she hit the ground running today,” Tobey said. “She got that first bucket because she puts a lot of pressure on herself to do well for her team. It was great to see her first varsity points, and she contributed in a lot of other ways, too.”
Williams drove the length of the court and scored at the buzzer to give Ankeny a 17-6 advantage at the end of the first quarter. She had 12 points in the period, then turned a steal into a layup midway through the second quarter to extend the margin to 23-6.
“There’s probably some passes and decisions with the ball that she’d have back, but overall she just makes so much happen for us,” Tobey said of Williams. “She has come so far with her all-around game that she’s just a factor in every possible facet of the game.”
The Hawkettes held a 26-9 lead at halftime. Ames didn’t score in the second quarter until making three free throws in the final minute.
Ankeny built a 40-17 cushion after three periods and then coasted to the win. Reagan Baldwin made a pair of 3-point goals and scored eight points, while Ainsley Kiene and Kyla Schaapveld each added six.
Victoria Williams led Ames with 14 points. Natalya Deardorff added 11 points and seven rebounds.
The Hawkettes will have a week off before hosting Des Moines Christian (1-0) in a non-conference game on Dec. 1. The Lions opened their season on Friday with a 62-31 win at Winterset.
