The Ankeny Centennial girls’ basketball team has dominated the all-time series against its crosstown rival.
The Jaguars entered Tuesday’s game at Ankeny with a 22-3 advantage in the history of the rivalry, but the third-ranked Hawkettes were clearly the favorite after posting a 55-39 win at Centennial on Dec. 5.
After getting off to a slow start, Centennial used a 16-2 run to take the lead and eventually held on for a 65-62 victory, giving first-year coach Chris Harken his biggest win at the school.
“We had to make sure it was a team effort tonight. That was the only way we could have won,” said Harken. “They have a lot of firepower and for us we just defended it really well and just fought as a team.”
The Jaguars overcame a career-high 33 points from Ankeny star Jayla Williams to improve to 4-5 in the CIML Conference and 5-6 overall. The Hawkettes’ records dropped to 5-4 and 8-4.
Centennial moved to within a game of Ankeny for fifth place in the loaded nine-team league, which currently boasts the top five squads in Class 5A.
“Centennial just played great, and I’ll give them a lot of credit,” said Ankeny coach Nate Tobey. “We’ve just been struggling for a week or so now. We talked about this going in–we had some concerns about this game because of how well they’ve been playing and how well coached they are. Just credit to them.”
Freshman Faith Perpich scored 11 of her 16 points in the second half before fouling out with 11 seconds left. Fellow guard Lizzie Beam also scored 16 points for the Jaguars.
“We were just being aggressive and showing them that we’re way more experienced and a whole new team (since the last game),” said Beam, who also contributed four assists, two steals and a block.
Centennial also got a double-double from senior forward Rylyn Boeding. She came off the bench to score 15 points and grab 10 rebounds, which helped her team to a 32-20 advantage on the boards.
“She’s our fire and our energy,” Harken said. “You can see when she’s on the court that the team just kind of lifts up its spirits. She’s really our team encourager as well. We’re glad to have her back (from an injury) and she’s unlimited, but we’re still going to try to pace ourselves in getting her back in full. That didn’t really work out (tonight), because we played her 28 minutes. But she’s really been our enthusiasm and our energy coming off the bench right now.”
Ankeny used an early 9-0 run to take a 12-4 lead, but Beam got a basket to ignite the Jaguars’ rally. Sophomore Lydia Michel then scored the last five points of the first quarter to cut the Hawkettes’ margin to 14-13.
“I wasn’t too worried because I know our team, and I knew we could come back from that (deficit),” Beam said.
Another basket by Beam gave Centennial a 22-16 lead in the second quarter before Ankeny rallied to tie it at 23-23 on a 3-point goal by Ainsley Kiene. The Jaguars then answered with a pair of baskets from Boeding and one from Beam to regain the lead for good.
“I think (the biggest issue) was our defense–we weren’t very disciplined on that end,” said Williams. “We got caught lacking a lot of times and we let them get a lot of shots off in the paint, and they were making them and that hurt us. They played well.”
Williams scored the last two baskets of the half to pull Ankeny within 29-27. She later opened the fourth quarter with another basket to close the gap to 45-44, but the Hawkettes were unable to get over the hump.
“She’s a great player,” Beam said of Williams, who also had six assists, five steals and two blocks. “We have really aggressive defensive players that were doing a good job on her, but at the end of the day she’s a great player and she’s going to get her buckets.”
Centennial answered with two free throws from Boeding, a 3-point play by Beam and another basket by Boeding to push the lead to 52-44. Ankeny forced some turnovers with a press that led to some late baskets, but the outcome was never really in doubt.
Kiene made a 3-pointer in the last second to produce the final margin. She finished with 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Michel and Mylie Hatfield each had eight points for the Jaguars.
“It’s like night and day from the first time we played them,” Williams said. “We didn’t play that well the first time we played them, and we won by (double digits). Tonight we didn’t perform the best on defense, and they showed how much they’ve improved and came out on top this time.”
Reserve Allison Hawkins went 2-of-2 from 3-point range and had six points for the Hawkettes, but the rest of her team made just 5-of-20 attempts from behind the arc.
“We attempted some 3s that usually fall that did not tonight,” Tobey said. “Centennial shot great, and they’ve obviously gotten so much better since the first time we played them. We’ll try to do that ourselves going into a huge game on Friday.”
Ankeny will travel to Valley on Friday for a game against the No. 4 Tigers, who are 6-3 in the conference and 8-4 overall. The Hawkettes won the first meeting, 65-46, on Dec. 2 and can move into a tie for fourth place by sweeping the season series.
Centennial, meanwhile, will host Waukee Northwest, which moved up to No. 2 in this week’s rankings following back-to-back wins over Ankeny and then-No. 2 Dowling Catholic. The Wolves, riding a five-game winning streak, are 6-2 in the conference and 8-3 overall.
The Jaguars dropped a 65-31 decision at Northwest last month.
“We still have room to grow,” Harken said. “I think we still made a lot of silly mistakes and inexperienced mistakes. But moving forward, it just continues to grow one step at a time and I’d love to see these girls continue to do that.”
