Ankeny boys’ basketball coach Brandt Carlson knows that every game on the road in the CIML Conference is going to be a grind.
Fortunately, he appears to have a team capable of winning in tough environments.
The Hawks used a late 13-5 run to post a 63-58 victory at Johnston on Tuesday. There were 15 lead changes and six ties in the seesaw affair.
“It’s crazy,” said Carlson. “I told their coach (Courtney Henderson) before the game that I think our league is better this year than it was last year. From top to bottom, it’s just hard. That’s a good team missing their best player (in Tino Daye Jr.). They’ll come after us again.”
Rio Aguirre scored nine of his 26 points in the fourth quarter as Ankeny improved to 3-0 in the league and overall. The Dragons’ records dropped to 1-2.
After Johnston took a 51-50 lead on a 3-point goal by Nicare Cavil with 3 minutes 48 seconds left, Aguirre answered with a trey of his own on the ensuing possession to put the Hawks ahead for good.
“I hit one earlier too, and I knew we had to score,” said Aguirre, who went 4-of-10 from behind the arc. “So I decided to take over.”
About a minute later, Ankeny got some breathing room when Drew Sorensen made a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down. Aguirre drove into the lane and found his open teammate in the left corner to extend the margin to 56-51.
“Rio’s done a great job,” Carlson said. “He’s really grown up now, just with his assists and seeing the floor. His trust in his teammates is huge.”
Aguirre isn’t afraid to pass the ball out of a double team. He racked up 10 assists in Friday’s win at Ankeny Centennial.
“We trust everybody, and I love Drew,” said Aguirre, who finished with four assists, seven rebounds and a steal. “He works so hard every day in practice. There was no doubt that shot was going in.”
Keyon Ford made two free throws with 44 seconds left to give Ankeny a 58-53 lead. Jasani Campbell hit two more with 25 seconds to go to make it 61-55.
“I love how our guys fought,” said Carlson, whose team went 12-of-14 at the line. “We made some plays, and a bunch of different guys stepped up. Keyon hit some free throws, Kael (Roush made one), and Sammy (Cowart) hit a big 3. It was a lot of fun.”
Campbell had 16 points for the Hawks, who have won the last three meetings at Johnston by a combined 14 points. Sorensen added 11, all of them in the second half.
“I was telling some of our guys that Drew doesn’t have to wait until the third or fourth quarter to start playing. We can use him earlier,” Carlson joked. “But we were fortunate to win over here. We’ve been lucky over here the last few years.”
Cavil led the Dragons with 21 points. He is averaging 24 points a game.
Ankeny took its biggest lead of the game, 40-33, before Cavil converted an and-one to spark an 11-2 run that closed out the third quarter. A 3-pointer by Emri Jones at the buzzer gave the Dragons a 44-42 advantage heading into the final period.
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight coming in with how aggressive they are,” Aguirre said.
The two teams will meet again on Jan. 23, when Daye is expected to be back in Johnston’s lineup. The senior guard averaged 16.4 points a game a year ago.
“He hurt his collarbone from football,” Carlson said of Daye. “But he’s really good. With Cavil, that’ll be a tough duo.”
Ankeny will host a conference game against Waukee on Friday. The Warriors are 2-0 in the league and 3-0 overall after routing Southeast Polk, 80-55, on Tuesday.
Waukee Northwest (3-0) and Dowling Catholic (2-0) are also unbeaten in conference play.
“We obviously want to (win the conference), but we’re just taking it one game at a time,” Aguirre said.
