(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
By the end of the night, it was guaranteed that the CIML Conference was going to have one fewer undefeated boys’ basketball team at the top of the league standings.
A second-half cold streak for Ankeny opened the door for visiting Waukee to come away with a 66-59 win on Friday as the Hawks suffered their first loss of the season.
“I’m really proud of how hard we played,” said Ankeny coach Brandt Carlson. “There’s some possessions we would’ve loved to have back. They went to that 1-3-1 zone in the middle of the third (quarter) that gave us some problems. Those are some things we’ve got to keep working on.”
Coming into the matchup, Ankeny and Waukee were two of the CIML’s last four undefeated teams alongside Dowling Catholic and Waukee Northwest.
The loss dropped the Hawks to 3-1 in the conference, while Waukee improved to 3-0 in the league and 4-0 overall. The Warriors remained tied with Dowling (3-0) a half game behind Northwest (4-0).
Waukee swept the regular season series against the Hawks last year and then-freshman Pete Craig scored just 15 total points in the two games.
The sophomore gave the Hawks some issues early on in their first matchup this season.
“The only way you can find success is you have to experience good teams,” Carlson said. “Tonight we learned a lot.”
Craig rattled off the first seven points of the game as the Hawks got off to a slow start, and he scored 12 of Waukee’s 16 points in the opening period. He went on to finish with a game-high 21 points and 18 rebounds.
Ankeny was on the cusp of being down by double digits in the first quarter before its shots started to fall.
Junior Jasani Campbell and senior Drew Sorensen were both able to cash in from deep, and Campbell also knocked down a jumper to get the Hawks going.
Senior Rio Aguirre assisted Sorensen on a wide-open layup before making back-to-back 3-pointers that quickly erased Waukee’s lead and tied things up at 16-16 going into the second quarter.
“Rio got going, and he gave our team some confidence,” Carlson said. “We really have been doing that last summer, fall and early this season. We’ve just battled back. Our guys aren’t afraid, and that’s the cool thing. A lot of them had experience last year, which helps.”
Aguirre assisted on a Campbell bucket and made another trey to give the Hawks a 21-16 lead in the early stages of the second quarter.
But a putback dunk by Craig sparked the Warriors, and the two teams eventually went to their locker rooms tied at 28-28 at the break following baskets by Campbell and senior Kael Roush.
“(Campbell) really is (taking the next step), there’s no question about it,” Carlson said. “He’s a really good player. I love seeing his maturity, his communication is getting better, and his defense is great.”
The lead got traded back and forth out of the half before Aguirre made a deep 3-pointer to give Ankeny a 41-39 advantage midway through the third quarter.
The Hawks’ next point wouldn’t come until there was just 45 seconds left in the period, when Aguirre connected on a free throw.
However, by then, the Warriors had taken control of the game. A buzzer-beater 3-pointer by Jai White gave them a 51-44 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Evan Jacobson eventually gave Waukee a 13-point lead early in the final period, and despite the Hawks trying to rally back, the Warriors held them off.
Campbell led Ankeny with a season-high 19 points. Aguirre chipped in 17, and Sorensen added 13.
Jacobson had 16 points and nine rebounds for Waukee. Max Roach added 15 points and three assists, going 7-of-7 at the free-throw line.
“When you play good teams, you’ve got to make quicker adjustments and that’s on me,” Carlson said. “But we love our guys, and we love our fight. We were right there and I feel really, really good where we’re at on Dec. 12. We’re going to win a lot of games this year, (Waukee) will too, and we’ll have another shot at them later in the season.”
The Hawks will close out the month of December by hosting a CIML game against Southeast Polk on Tuesday before traveling to Cedar Falls for a non-conference game on Friday. The Rams are 1-2 in the league and 2-2 overall after losing at Waukee, 80-55, on Tuesday.
