The offensive struggles continued on Friday for the Ankeny boys’ basketball team.
After being held to 46 points in a loss to Southeast Polk on Tuesday, the Hawks traveled to Cedar Falls for their final game before the holiday break and dropped a 53-38 decision in a non-conference matchup.
“We’re 3-3 now, and that’s the reality of it,” said Ankeny coach Brandt Carlson, whose team suffered its third straight loss. “We’ll take a break for Christmas, and then we’ll come back and go at it again.”
Cedar Falls (5-0) jumped out to a 17-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. The margin grew to 20-2 before Ankeny responded with a 12-3 run, closing the gap to 23-14 at the half.
“Cedar Falls is good,” Carlson said. “When you’re not scoring the ball very well, things are difficult. But I’m really proud of the guys. I think after the first quarter we outscored them the rest of the way. We just couldn’t get close enough. We had it down to single digits there and really battled.
“Offensively, it was just tough sledding. When you get down to a really good team, it’s tough to come back,” he added.
Jasani Campbell led the Hawks with 16 points. Max Allison added a career-high 10 points while also contributed seven rebounds and four blocks.
Ankeny star Rio Aguirre dished out four assists but was held to a season-low four points on 1-of-10 shooting. Overall, the Hawks went 16-of-49 from the field (32.7 percent).
The Tigers got 20 points and eight rebounds from both Will Gerdes and Jaydon Kimbrough. Gerdes also had six blocks, while Kimbrough added two assists and two steals.
Gerdes is a Northern Iowa recruit. Kimbrough has signed with Winona State.
“They are both all-state level players,” Carlson said. “But defensively, we only gave up 53 (points). They only had five guys who scored, but we only had five ourselves so it was hard for us to overcome that. We just didn’t shoot very well.”
Ankeny played without senior guard Samuel Cowart, who sprained his knee during Tuesday’s loss to the Rams.
“He’ll be out for a long stretch of time, but it’s something he’ll recover from,” Carlson said. “We’re happy that he’ll be able to come back at some point.”
Junior Carey Mastin could help pick up the slack. He came off the bench Friday and saw some action for the third time this season, going 2-of-4 from 3-point range and scoring six points.
The Hawks will have two weeks to regroup before facing Cedar Rapids Prairie (2-2) in the CIML/MVC Crossover event on Jan. 3 at Cedar Rapids. Carlson’s team will then return to conference play the next week with games at home against Urbandale and Waukee Northwest, two of the hottest squads in the CIML.
“I have a feeling this year is going to be tough for a lot of teams, us included as we go through the conference and the rest of the schedule,” Carlson said.
