(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
With about 50 seconds left in Friday’s game against visiting Valley, Ankeny Centennial boys’ basketball coach Matt Delger walked in front of his bench with a wide grin on his face and asked the reserves that don’t get much playing time if they wanted to close out the final minute.
Delger’s smile quickly spread up and down from the Jaguars’ bench to the rest of his coaching staff behind him to the players on the court and even to the student section trying their best to not start celebrating until time expired.
The second-half effort from the Jaguars helped them turn a five-point halftime lead into a 63-45 victory for their first win of the season.
“It felt so good because these kids work so hard,” Delger said after giving the backup unit a chance to close out the game. “They push their teammates every single day, and they deserve to be on that court. We haven’t been able to give them that opportunity yet this season, but all those kids earned (the chance to play).”
Delger and company felt the first victory was imminent as the deficits in their first four losses of the year quickly decreased.
The Jaguars opened the season with a 64-21 loss to title-contending Waukee Northwest, followed by a 58-46 rivalry loss to Ankeny and two close defeats against Dowling Catholic (46-42) and Urbandale (42-39).
So getting the first win of the season is a massive weight off their shoulders.
“It feels so good!” said Delger, who took over the program after Bob Fontana retired at the end of last season. “It feels so good.”
“It feels great to do it with my guys,” said sophomore guard Keaton Kasperbauer, who led the Jaguars with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting. “I love this team, and it means a lot to get coach that first win. It feels great, and the locker room (after the game) was one of the best feelings ever. I’m so happy we could get it done tonight.”
Coming into Friday’s matchup, the Jaguars and Tigers were the last two winless CIML teams remaining.
Both squads wanted to come out on top in the battle for win No. 1, and it showed in the first half as buckets got traded back and forth up until halftime.
Valley took a massive step back from its previous state title-winning teams from the last three seasons with junior Keane Jorgensen being one of the few core pieces that returned after playing in 17 games and starting seven times as a sophomore.
Jorgensen delivered in the first half for the Tigers by accounting for 12 of their 26 points.
Centennial has always prided itself on playing selfless basketball, and it led to a balanced scoring attack with Kasperbauer, senior Kolby Bechen, sophomore Trey Crawford and juniors Luke Mitchell and Drew Hansen almost evening out the Jaguars’ first-half points.
“Just us keeping our composure, trusting and sticking with each other and always trusting the next guy to hit a shot or get a stop,” Kasperbauer said of the key to the team’s success. “That’s the biggest thing about this team: we always trust each other.”
Valley tried to get some momentum going into the half when Eddie Hybels scored on a putback tip-in to make it a two-point game with 4.4 seconds left.
But that was just enough time for Centennial to get the ball in and put it in the hands of Kasperbauer for a deep, buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give the Jaguars a 31-26 lead at the break.
“That was huge,” Kasperbauer said. “The locker room was really pumped up. It was a five-point lead, but it felt like we were up 15. That was a really big shot for us.”
Valley came out of the half on a 4-0 run to pull within 31-30 before things started to unravel for the Tigers.
Kasperbauer got one of his shots to fall, which led into the ensuing possession where Valley was assessed the first of three second-half technical fouls.
Junior Hunter Runchey sank both free throws, Mitchell scored off a hustle play by Hansen to keep the ball alive, and Crawford converted a free throw to give the Jaguars some breathing room.
“It was my guys’ grittiness and toughness,” Delger said. “We had talked about how third quarters are so important. You’ve got to have big buckets from key players, making big plays and stepping up for their teammates.”
Despite the Tigers getting it back to within five by the end of the third quarter, the final period was quickly dominated by Centennial.
The Jaguars rattled off a 12-0 run to start the quarter behind second-chance points from Hansen, a pair of 3-pointers from Kasperbauer and the second Valley technical foul that led to two successful Runchey free throws.
Even when the Tigers were able to break up the run with a Jayden Adaway 3-pointer, Runchey answered right back with his own trey before he went back to the line to sink both free throws when another technical was assessed on the Valley coaches.
The Jaguars ended up outscoring Valley, 21-8, in the fourth quarter. They improved to 1-4 in the CIML Conference, while the Tigers dropped to 0-6.
“It’s huge,” Delger said of getting a win before the holiday break. “It’s a springboard for sure. Confidence is such an important thing in athletics, and this just gives us confidence that we know we can do it. Now we just have to go back to work all Christmas break and work on it.”
Runchey finished with 11 points and a pair of steals, while Crawford chipped in 10 points. Hansen added eight points, seven rebounds and a block.
The Jaguars will return to action on Jan. 2 when they host another conference game against Waukee (5-2) before going on the road to Southeast Polk and Johnston.
“It’s such a big momentum shift, and I think it gives us all the confidence that we can compete,” Kasperbauer said. “We’ve shown it. We’ve been close all year and getting over that hump to get the first win is huge for us, and we’ll get more down the road.”
