A scoring drought of about 4 minutes at the beginning of each half proved costly for the Ankeny boys’ basketball team.
Second-ranked Waukee Northwest cranked up the defensive pressure and rolled to a 64-45 victory on Friday, handing the Hawks their fourth consecutive CIML Conference loss at home.
“I think they had a lot to do with that,” Ankeny coach Brandt Carlson said of his team’s offensive struggles. “They can really defend. And when the ball doesn’t drop, it’s hard.”
Rio Aguirre made a jumper to cut Northwest’s lead to 10-5 at the end of the first quarter, but the Wolves then extended their margin to 26-15 at halftime. They got some unexpected help late in the half from Ankeny’s Jasani Campbell, who tried to tip the ball away from a Northwest player and inadvertently scored a basket for the Wolves.
The hoop was credited to Nash Kooken, a sophomore point guard who then erupted for 18 of his 26 points in the second half. Kooken went 10-of-14 from the field, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range.
Kooken, who was averaging just eight points per game, scored 11 consecutive points during one stretch of the fourth quarter.
“He’s a good player, and he’s got some high-level recruiting coming on,” Carlson said. “It’s just one of those things, you can’t guard them all and that’s the hard part. You’ve got to pick your poison and take their two best guys away, and that worked well for awhile. But when the other guys are hitting shots, it makes it hard.
“They’ve got a really nice team,” he added.
The game featured a matchup between two of the top scorers in Class 4A. Northwest’s Colin Rice entered the contest with an average of 23.6 points, while Aguirre was averaging 19.4.
It turned out to be more of a defensive battle than a shootout, though.
Rice, a Nebraska recruit, scored just 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting. Isaiah Oliver also chipped in 10 points for the Wolves, while Illinois commit Landon Davis had seven points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and two steals.
Rice and Davis also combined for five blocks while helping to hold Aguirre to 13 points. Campbell led the Hawks with 16 points.
“It was fun watching Rio and Rice going at it a little bit,” Carlson said. “Rio was trying, and (Rice) is really good. So it’s a good experience for us. This state is full of talent, and (Northwest) happens to be our next door neighbor. But it’s ok. We’re playing hard.”
Northwest rebounded from its first loss of the season, 74-69, to No. 1 Cedar Falls last Saturday at Cedar Rapids. The Wolves improved to 7-0 in the conference and 8-1 overall, while Ankeny’s records dropped to 3-4 and 4-5.
The Hawks will host a conference game against Ankeny Centennial on Tuesday. They won the first meeting at Centennial, 58-46, on Dec. 5.
Carlson said reserve guard Sam Cowart, who scored 12 points in the win over the Jaguars before suffering a leg injury during a loss to Southeast Polk on Dec. 16, is still a few weeks away from returning to action.
“I’m hoping we can get him back at the end of January or early February,” Carlson said. “Obviously, we need to make some shots, and he could help with that. When we’ve shot it well, we’ve played well. But when we don’t, it’s a grind.”
