Two months ago, Waukee Northwest captured the Class 5A state volleyball title in dominating fashion.
Now, the Wolves could be a contender for the girls’ state basketball crown as well.
Fifth-ranked Northwest extended its winning streak to four games with a 63-39 victory on Friday at No. 3 Ankeny. The Wolves moved into sole possession of third place in the CIML Conference.
“They had one girl out early in the season (Leah Janulewicz), and they’ve had a tough schedule too just like us,” said Ankeny coach Nate Tobey. “I think they’ll be one of the teams there at the end of the year. They have so much talent and experience, and they’re putting it together for sure.”
Northwest never trailed while improving to 5-2 in the league and 7-3 overall. The Hawkettes’ records dropped to 5-3 and 8-3.
The Wolves broke away from a 6-6 tie with a 6-0 run late in the first quarter. Romey Croatt drove for a basket to put her team ahead to stay.
After Ankeny’s Jayla Williams scored in the final seconds of the period, Northwest then opened the second quarter with a 21-8 run to build a 33-16 advantage. Sophomore guard Sadie McCann scored six of her game-high 21 points during the run.
The Wolves’ full-court pressure forced Ankeny into several turnovers during that stretch. One of those turnovers led to a 3-point goal by Vana Bilic that capped the run.
“We allowed (the pressure) to bother us,” Tobey said. “We didn’t make good decisions at all with the ball. We have some seniors who are very comfortable with the ball in their hands who just got sped up pretty frequently. We worked a lot against the press, and I know we’ll bounce back the next time we play these guys.”
Bilic had three of Northwest’s five 3-pointers in the second quarter. She finished with 15 points.
Williams led Ankeny with 15 points. Ali Aguirre added 13, 11 of them in the first half.
Reagan Baldwin made back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the third quarter, but by then Northwest had increased its lead to 48-23 and was well on its way to the win.
Tobey is hoping that his team can learn from the loss.
“The same thing kind of happened last year where you get down to them and lose big, but you’re able to learn and really contend with them in the second game and then if we play them a third time that’s what we’re looking to do,” Tobey said.
Last year, Tobey’s team dropped a 70-49 decision at Northwest in the first meeting. The Wolves won the rematch at Ankeny, 54-51, and then held off the Hawkettes’ rally to post a 43-37 win in a Class 5A regional final.
Ankeny will host a conference game against Ankeny Centennial on Tuesday. The Hawkettes won the first meeting at Centennial, 55-39, on Dec. 5.
