(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
There’s no doubt that a crosstown rivalry win was going to be important for either of the Ankeny or Ankeny Centennial boys’ basketball teams.
For the Hawks, Tuesday’s game was a chance to bounce back from back-to-back losses, even out their record and generate some momentum for their upcoming slate.
For the visiting Jaguars, it was an opportunity to win back-to-back games for the first time since the end of the 2023-24 season and end their losing skid against Ankeny.
The Hawks were able to hold off Centennial in the end for a 52-46 victory, allowing them to sweep the season series for the second straight year while defeating the Jaguars for the sixth consecutive time.
“(Centennial) is a good team, but just winning the crosstown rivalry is always a good feeling,” said Ankeny junior guard Jasani Campbell. “We just knew we were better.”
Given how close the first matchup was in early December, along with the Hawks coming off losses against ranked Urbandale and Waukee Northwest teams and the Jaguars coming off one of their top performances of the year against Fort Dodge, another close game was imminent.
But despite never fully pulling away, the Hawks also never surrendered their lead after senior Rio Aguirre and sophomore Keyon Ford knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers after Centennial’s Brody Prill made a trey to open up the game.
Aguirre and Campbell led the Hawks in scoring during the first matchup at Centennial, and the Ankeny duo led the way once again.
Campbell finished as the game’s leading scorer with 17 points, while Aguirre added 15 and also dished out six assists.
“I just came out mentally chill,” Campbell said. “I was just letting the game come to me and just making my free throws.”
Aguirre led Ankeny with seven points in the first quarter, and Campbell followed with a seven-point second period. A pair of buckets from Drew Sorensen and a 3-pointer at the end of the half from Kael Roush gave the Hawks a 27-19 advantage at the break.
Ankeny extended the lead to double digits at the start of the third quarter off a drive from Aguirre.
Senior Carson Bright provided a spark off the bench and aided the Hawks in surviving a push from Centennial to tie the game up during the third quarter. Bright scored all six of his points in the second half.
Ankeny managed to build its lead up to near 10 points before the Jaguars made another late push. However, Campbell helped ice the win with a pair of trips to the free-throw line.
“It feels good for the (regular season series) to be over because they’re tough games,” said Ankeny coach Brandt Carlson. “They’re tough games to plan for, (Centennial) is a good team, and they’re well coached. There’s a lot to work through, the emotions and the history. It’s a good game to get through, and we’re fortunate to win.”
For the Jaguars, they felt like it was another close game that got away from them.
Centennial kept it close before the Hawks pulled away in the first meeting, and the Jaguars have had a few other games play out in similar fashion.
Coming off the win over Fort Dodge on Saturday, Centennial got off to a good start with Prill’s 3-pointer to begin the game. But a cold stretch opened up the door for the Hawks to take the lead.
“(We’re) disappointed,” said Centennial coach Matt Delger. “Once again, we’re really close and aren’t able to pull it out. Ankeny had a stretch in the second quarter where we weren’t playing very good offense and (the Hawks) were clicking a little bit. In a game like that, in a possession battle, you have to keep it close and we didn’t do that.”
Senior Kolby Bechen returned to the lineup after missing two games with an injury and knocked down a 3-pointer with a wrist brace on to snap them out of it.
Junior Drew Hansen kept them within striking distance after making a pair of triples and adding a third bucket to finish the first half with eight points while the Jaguars waited for some of their other top scorers to get going. Hansen also had six rebounds, five assists and two blocks.
“(Drew’s shooting) was huge,” Delger said. “When they bring (Max Allison) out, he’s going to play in drop coverage, so you have to be able to hit some shots to make it hard and make him honor it. It was good to see (Drew) hit those shots.”
Juniors Hunter Runchey and Luke Mitchell both had a quiet first half, but came out of the break and nearly helped the Jaguars tie the game after clawing out of a 10-point deficit.
Runchey and Mitchell sparked a 12-4 run that brought the game within a single possession two times. Mitchell led the Jaguars with 11 points, going 5-of-6 from the field.
Runchey and Bechen each finished with 10 points. Runchey went 6-of-6 at the free-throw line and has yet to miss in 38 attempts this season.
Runchey remains one of four players across the state who boast a perfect free-throw percentage with at least 10 attempts. Nobody has made more free throws without missing than Runchey.
Bechen’s return was welcomed for the Jaguars as he set a new career-high and scored seven points in the fourth quarter, which included a 5-0 run by himself that cut Ankeny’s lead to four points.
“This team isn’t ever going to quit,” Delger said “We’re going to keep fighting until the very end no matter what. We got out (of half) and ran a little bit more, tried to push the tempo in transition and were able to get a few stops in there to chip away at the lead.”
Centennial just wasn’t able to get over the hump as the Hawks relied on their vets to help them close it out on their home court. Ankeny improved to 4-4 in the CIML Conference and 5-5 overall, while the Jaguars’ records dropped to 2-7 and 3-7.
The Hawks have a chance to start racking up some wins as they head into their Friday road trip against Valley (0-9, 0-10) with some momentum. Ankeny defeated the winless Tigers, 58-52, in the season opener.
“I think the big thing is, and I hate to say this, but just to forget about (this win),” Carlson said. “We need to come back (Wednesday) and refocus ourselves over the next 48 hours. That’s very important in sports. You have to let the good and the bad go, it’s all in the past in a way. Enjoy it tonight, but wake up (Wednesday) and have a renewed focus.”
“We just need to keep being consistent and play the game through a straight line the whole game with no ups and downs,” Campbell added.
The Jaguars have a tough slate ahead of them. They will host second-ranked Waukee Northwest (8-0, 9-1) on Friday.
The Wolves are coming off a 72-52 win over No. 3 Dowling Catholic on Tuesday. They handed the Maroons their first loss of the season.
“We’ll keep studying the film and keep learning,” Delger said. “There’s some precision on offense that we’re not playing with enough detail, and we’re trying to do some things we probably shouldn’t do. Hopefully we can learn from that, clean it up and generate the right look.”
