The Ankeny boys’ basketball team entered Monday’s game at Southeast Polk with something to prove.
It wasn’t pretty, but the 10th-ranked Hawks avenged a pair of double-digit losses in the last year with a 54-53 victory. They deflected an inbounds pass as the final 1.9 seconds ticked off the clock to preserve the win.
“We’ll take it,” said Ankeny coach Brandt Carlson, whose team moved into sole possession of fourth place in the CIML Conference. “It was a good road win, and they’re a tough team. They’ve played everybody really well and they’ve had our number a few times now, so it felt good.”
The road team has won the last four games in the series. After the Hawks posted a 74-68 victory at Southeast Polk in double overtime last season, the Rams then rolled to a stunning 74-36 win in the rematch at Ankeny.
Southeast Polk also won the first meeting this season, 61-46, on Dec. 16.
“They’re a really good team,” Ankeny forward Kael Roush said of the Rams. “We weren’t happy with how we played the first time, and I think it was a big chip on our shoulder to play better in this one.”
Roush and fellow senior reserve Carson Bright each played a key role in Monday’s win. They both made a pair of 3-point goals in the fourth quarter as Ankeny erased a 42-39 deficit.
Roush and Bright opened the final period with back-to-back treys from the right corner. After Southeast Polk’s Ehikhueme Ehikhametalor answered with two free throws, Roush drilled another 3-pointer to give the Hawks a 48-44 advantage.
Neither Roush nor Bright had scored a point in the first three quarters as they both battled some foul trouble.
“We both struggled in the first half; we didn’t hit a 3 in the first half,” Roush said. “But one of us needed to step up, and we both did a really good job and (our teammates) were doing a good job of finding us as well.”
Southeast Polk later closed the gap to 50-47 before Bright nailed his second 3-pointer to extend the lead.
“To their credit, both Carson and Kael spend a ton of time after practice just shooting to be ready for those moments,” Carlson said. “They’re senior guys, and they’ve been doing this a long time. I’m really happy for them.”
The Rams pulled to within 53-52 after Joshua Charlotin scored five straight points, but he then missed one of two free throws with 1 minute 5 seconds left that would have allowed his team to tie the game.
Ankeny held on for the victory, despite missing 5-of-6 free-throw attempts down the stretch.
“All these games are rematches the second time around,” Carlson said. “They make it hard on you defensively, so I was happy with the way we hit some 3s in the second half. Kael, Carson and Rio (Aguirre) made some big ones. It was a good overall win for our guys, and hopefully a good lesson for us moving forward and being in tight situations.”
Aguirre led Ankeny with 14 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Drew Sorensen had 12 points and five assists, while Jasani Campbell added 11 points.
Charlotin had 13 points, six assists and two steals for the Rams. But he went just 4-of-13 from the field after racking up 26 points and 11 rebounds in the first meeting.
Southeast Polk’s Domonique Crawford-Coleman had 12 points and seven rebounds. Emmanuel Tete chipped in 10 points.
The Hawks improved to 6-5 in the league and 8-6 overall. The Rams’ records dropped to 3-9 and 7-9.
Ankeny will travel to Dowling Catholic on Friday for another conference game against the No. 4 Maroons, who held off Johnston’s late rally to post a 64-63 win on Monday.
Dowling is 10-2 in the league and 14-2 overall. The two teams will meet again in the regular-season finale on Feb. 19 at Ankeny.
