(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
For the second straight game, the Ankeny Centennial boys’ basketball team took a halftime lead and was just 16 minutes away from its first victory of the season.
The Jaguars were still tied with under a minute left in Tuesday’s game, but visiting Dowling Catholic made the plays down the stretch to escape with a 46-42 win on the road.
“My guys play so stinking hard, and I’m so proud of them for that,” said Centennial coach Matt Delger. “We’re darn close. We had a bad third quarter and only scored five points. Situationally down the stretch, there were possessions we wished we had back. We’ve got to put it away and weren’t able to do it.”
Centennial was coming off a loss to crosstown rival Ankeny where the Jaguars felt like they were in it for the most of the game–and even had a one-point lead at halftime– but couldn’t keep their momentum going in the second half.
Just like how the Hawks used a run to open the third quarter to get the advantage over Centennial, the Maroons used a 10-0 run to turn a 30-25 deficit into a 35-30 Dowling lead before junior Drew Hansen ended the scoring drought from the post.
“(Hansen) can do everything,” Delger said. “He’s very versatile in how he can guard. His length and his athleticism bothers people. He’s been doing a lot of great things, and we’re excited for him.”
Keaton Kasperbauer played a pivotal role in helping Centennial get the lead in the first half, scoring 10 points before the break. He played just as big of a role in the second half.
Kasperbauer cashed in from beyond the arc to tie the game at 37-37 with around 5 minutes left to play. He got another basket to fall to make it a three-point game with 1:45 left before Hansen blocked a shot, leading to Kasperbauer’s fourth 3-pointer of the night to tie the game at 42-42 with 50.3 seconds remaining.
“(Kasperbauer) is so solid, and he’s so mature beyond his grade,” Delger said. “He’s a leader for us as a sophomore, he made huge plays for us today, and he’s going to do that all season.”
But things unraveled for Centennial down the stretch, helping the Maroons walk away with the victory.
Dowling junior Alfred Kolee scored through a foul and sank a free throw to put his team up by three, Kasperbauer couldn’t connect on a 3-pointer, and Dowling’s Grady Kroll sank one of two free throws to help clinch it.
“We just need to keep learning,” Delger said. “That game, you’re tied with 50 seconds to go, need one stop and I had all the confidence in my guys that we’d come down and get a bucket. Just keep learning and improving each day, and (the win) will come.”
Part of what the Jaguars were missing in the second half was some secondary scorers alongside Kasperbauer.
Senior Kolby Bechen and junior Hunter Runchey provided a nice spark of offense for Centennial in the first half with the duo both knocking down some shots from beyond the arc.
Bechen scored all six of his points in the first half, while Runchey scored seven in the first half and added one more bucket after halftime to finish with nine points and four rebounds. But Kasperbauer was the lone Jaguar in double figures with a career-high 20 points.
Kolee had 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting and a game-high seven rebounds for the Maroons, who improved to 2-0 in the CIML Conference and 3-0 overall. Centennial’s records dropped to 0-3.
The Jaguars will shift their focus to Urbandale as their upcoming trip to face J-Hawks on Friday will guarantee the first victory of the season for one of the two teams. Urbandale is 0-2 in the league following losses to Waukee Northwest and Dowling.
“We’ve got two days to get back to the grind, hard work, film study and we are going to be ready to fight,” Delger said.
