The Ankeny boys’ basketball team took a lot of positives away from Friday’s loss at Dowling Catholic.
An injury to the Hawks’ second-leading scorer certainly wasn’t one of them.
Junior guard Jasani Campbell was helped to the locker room after injuring his right knee with about 5 minutes left in the game. He had just scored a basket to pull the 10th-ranked Hawks to within 56-48.
“That was a tough one,” said Ankeny coach Brandt Carlson. “He said he doesn’t feel terrible, but it’s a hyperextension of some sort which is obviously a concern. So we’ll see. We’ll just pray and hope that he’s ok.”
The No. 4 Maroons went on to post a 63-53 victory, but the biggest concern afterwards was the potential loss of a player averaging 15.6 points per game.
“We’re praying for him,” Ankeny senior Drew Sorensen said of Campbell. “He’ll get it checked out, but hopefully he can get back on the court as soon as possible.”
Alfred Kolee scored 25 points as Dowling improved to 11-2 in the CIML Conference and 15-2 overall. The Hawks’ records dropped to 6-6 and 8-7.
The Maroons remained in a second-place tie with No. 3 Waukee, moving to within a game of idle No. 2 Waukee Northwest. They will host the Wolves on Feb. 13 and can do no worse than tie for the league crown by winning out.
“Kolee killed us,” said Carlson, whose team will host Dowling in the regular-season finale on Feb. 19. “He had a ton of rebounds and 25 points, so how do you expect that? But at the same time, great players make big plays and he did. We go home with the loss, but I’m still proud of our guys.”
Ankeny got off to a fast start, jumping out to a 12-4 lead. A 3-point goal by Sorensen capped the flurry and forced the Maroons to call a timeout.
“I wasn’t really looking to be aggressive early in the game,” Sorensen said. “But because Jasani and Rio (Aguirre) have played so well, teams have to focus on them and that just opens things up for everyone else. Tonight was just my night.”
Kolee then sparked an 11-0 run by the Maroons over the next 2 minutes with a trey of his own. He also had another basket in the run, sandwiched around a pair of 3-pointers by Noah Martens.
“He’s a very talented player,” Sorensen said of Kolee, a 6-foot-8 junior. “He uses his height and length well. He’s definitely a very talented guy.”
Ankeny closed the period with a 9-3 run that included a huge dunk by Max Allison with Kolee draped all over him. Allison scored all 10 of his points in the first half and had three dunks.
“Our effort was great,” Carlson said. “Every guy is really getting better and more consistent.”
However, Dowling outscored the Hawks in the second quarter, 22-10, to take a 40-31 halftime lead. Kolee had 15 of his points in the first half.
After Sorensen scored the first five points of the third quarter, Aguirre made three consecutive free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt to close the gap to 40-39. Aguirre later hit a 3-pointer to pull his team within 45-44, but Kolee responded with a basket and then passed to Giovanny Quiles for a layup to extend the margin.
Ankeny could get no closer than three points the rest of the way.
“A few more shots falling here and there would have been nice,” Carlson said. “We were right there, but there were some battles for some loose balls that didn’t go our way. Sometimes that’s not a scouting report, it’s a strength and physicality issue. But we’ll keep working to get better at that.”
Aguirre led the Hawks with 15 points. Sorensen had 14, and Campbell chipped in six before leaving the game.
“That’s a great team and to come into their place and compete like that, we’re not hanging our heads too much,” Sorensen said. “We’re excited to get onto the next one, and we’ve got a game (Saturday). We’ve just got to keep pushing forward from that.”
The Hawks will play Cedar Rapids Kennedy (10-6) in the CIML/MVC Crossover Classic at Waukee, beginning at 3:30 p.m. The Cougars are coming off an 81-41 win over Cedar Rapids Washington on Friday that extended their winning streak to six games.
