(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
There has been a night and day difference between the Ankeny Centennial girls’ basketball team that started the season and the one that’s now pushing for a top-10 ranking.
Valley found out first hand just how much the 12th-ranked Jaguars have grown since their first meeting in mid-December.
Centennial led nearly the entire way, overcame numerous comeback attempts and closed out the game on a 12-1 run to post a 50-38 victory at No. 7 Valley on Friday.
“It was hard to prepare for (Valley) especially with their press, and that still gave us problems tonight,” said Centennial coach Chris Harken. “But the girls came out determined. From the first time we played to this time, they were definitely a lot more relaxed. Still had some fits with that press, but they were more prepared for it this time.”
It was nearly a month and a half ago when the Tigers came into Ankeny and handed Centennial a 57-28 loss right before the holiday break. Lizzie Beam scored 21 points in that game, but her teammates combined for just seven more in what still stands as one of the Jaguars’ lowest scoring totals of the season.
Much like the first matchup, Beam still emerged as one of the game’s leading scorers.
Beam scored Centennial’s first 11 points in the first quarter and went on to post a game-high 19 points to go along with eight rebounds and six assists, but it didn’t take very long for the Tigers to start throwing double teams at her in an attempt to get the ball out of the junior guard’s hands.
And unlike the first matchup, the Jaguars had plenty of others waiting to step up.
“We were talking about being patient on the offensive end,” Harken said. “Like once we got it across half court, just be patient and that just relayed to their shot selection too. When they saw an opportunity, they took it and they were a lot more confident with their shooting.”
Beam was held off the scoresheet until a late free throw in the second quarter. But during that time, the Jaguars only lost the lead for a brief moment.
An 8-0 run led by Tylee Weite gave Valley a 14-13 advantage before Faith Perpich made a 3-pointer at the end of the first period to give Centennial a lead it wouldn’t surrender for the rest of the game.
Senior Rylyn Boeding, sophomore Lydia Michel and freshman Alana Newman all stepped up to score a couple of buckets in the second quarter with Boeding, Michel and Perpich all connecting from deep during the period.
“We knew we had to be patient bringing the ball up and if we weren’t patient and kind of forcing it all over the place that we weren’t even going to have a chance at winning,” Boeding said. “We knew that going into the game, and we executed that really well.”
Valley’s Avery Moon helped the Tigers pull the game back within one possession to open up the second half before Beam and Boeding scored back-to-back baskets to keep the Jaguars ahead.
The Tigers started to ramp up the pressure, and it led to Valley cutting Centennial’s lead down to a single point at the start of the fourth quarter.
Boeding didn’t get a chance to play against the Tigers in the first meeting after suffering an injury on a scary fall just two games earlier against Dowling Catholic, but she had one of the biggest impacts on the Jaguars’ victory with her emergence in the final period.
Beam converted a free throw and a basket to make it a four-point game when Boeding proceeded to score three straight buckets and knocked down two free throws to continue Centennial’s decisive run.
Boeding scored eight of her career-high 17 points in the fourth quarter while going a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor. She also chipped in six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.
“It’s been great,” Boeding said of her play since returning from her injury. “I feel like I’ve been playing the best basketball I’ve played my whole life. My teammates are amazing, and they’ve been so supportive. My coaches have been great at not pushing me too hard and letting me slowly work back into it. Now I can say I’m 100 percent healed.”
Perpich closed out the run and the game by making a free throw to finish the night with seven points and nine rebounds. Michel added five points and four rebounds, Newman had two points and four boards, and Mylie Hatfield posted a team-high three steals to go along with six rebounds.
Centennial held the Tigers to 12 points in the second half, including just four points in the fourth quarter. The Tigers’ lowest scoring quarter in the first matchup was 11 points in the final period.
The Jaguars ended a two-game skid while improving to 6-7 in the CIML Conference and 7-9 overall. Valley’s records dropped to 6-6 and 9-7.
Centennial could reach the .500 mark by the end of this week. The Jaguars return home on Monday for a non-conference matchup with Des Moines Roosevelt (11-5) before going on the road Friday to face a Waukee team that they previously beat, 61-48, earlier in the season.
“We’ve seen tremendous growth, and we still think there’s a lot more room to grow yet,” Harken said. “They’re not young anymore. They’re experienced, and they’re getting more experienced every time they play. Every game we see a little bit more of that maturity and that growth.”
