A trip to Cedar Rapids may have been just what the Ankeny boys’ basketball team needed.
The Hawks returned from the holiday break and ended a three-game losing skid with a 67-50 victory over Cedar Rapids Prairie in the the CIML/MVC Crossover event on Saturday at the Alliant Energy Powerhouse.
Ankeny (4-3) won in the event for the third straight year. The Hawks defeated Bettendorf (78-53) two years ago and topped Linn-Mar (Marion) (61-55) last season.
“It’s been really good for us,” said Ankeny coach Brandt Carlson. “It’s a way to get the second half of the season rolling, and the atmosphere over there is great. It was a lot of fun.”
After leading by just 30-29 at halftime, Ankeny pulled away in the final two quarters for its most lopsided win of the season. Prairie’s record dropped to 3-3.
“It was a good experience for us,” Carlson said. “We like playing over there, and the guys just responded really well. Prairie is a nice team and plays really hard, but the ball started going in the basket for us in the second half.”
Rio Aguirre led the Hawks with 25 points, five assists and four steals. He had been held to a season-low four points in his team’s 53-38 loss at second-ranked Cedar Falls on Dec. 19.
“He’s just got to realize that every team is going to give him their best shot,” Carlson said of Aguirre. “Prairie did as well, but I thought in this game as opposed to the last three he was a lot more patient. We really focused on sharing the basketball and letting everybody touch it and then hopefully get it back to the guys who are feeling it, and it worked out. So hopefully we can continue to build on it.”
Ankeny’s Jasani Campbell and Drew Sorensen each added 16 points. It was a career-high for Sorensen, who went 7-of-10 from the field and also grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
“Drew played great,” Carlson said. “He got to the free-throw line and was patient–he didn’t even shoot a 3-pointer. He just played really hard.”
Kael Roush added a season-high eight points off the bench, going 2-of-2 from 3-point range. He also had five rebounds, helping his team to a 27-22 advantage on the boards.
David Fason led Prairie with 16 points. He went 3-of-6 from behind the arc.
Carlson was proud of the way his team bounced back from the losing streak that also included CIML Conference losses to Waukee and Southeast Polk. Both of those defeats came at home.
“I think for our team a lot of it had to do with our attitude rather than our play,” Carlson said. “I think it was just our belief. Waukee punched us in the mouth and Southeast Polk did the same thing, and I think sometimes guys can get shocked a little bit. It’s going to be a long season, but you’ve got to find a way to enjoy that journey. Just collectively, we needed to get back together playing basketball and doing what we love and kind of making things simple and going game-by-game.
“We just had to get our minds right,” he added.
Ankeny will host a conference game against Urbandale on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. The J-Hawks–who will play a non-conference game at No. 7 Ames on Monday before heading to Ankeny–are 4-2 in the league and rolled past Southeast Polk on Friday, 74-52, for their fourth straight win.
“They’re really good,” Carlson said. “They’ve got four seniors who lead the way, and they’re coached well. It’s going to be a great battle. I think our conference is even tougher this year than it was last year, and I didn’t think that was possible.”
