A slow start proved costly for the Ankeny Centennial boys’ basketball team.
The Jaguars fell into a 17-4 hole against visiting Johnston by the end of the first quarter in Tuesday’s game. Centennial closed the gap to 24-19 at halftime before the Dragons pulled away for a 56-45 victory that allowed them to sweep the season series.
“Our defense was fighting like heck (in that first half),” said Centennial coach Matt Delger. “You’ve got to love that grit and toughness that we bring on the defensive end. We have those spurts where we just don’t score it that we have to get rid of, but I love that we had a chance going into the half.”
Centennial played without sophomore guard Keaton Kasperbauer, its third-leading scorer with an 8.6 average. He was out with an illness.
The Jaguars got a huge lift from another sophomore. McClain Gorsh came off the bench and led the team with a career-high 13 points.
Gorsh had appeared in just three games prior to Tuesday and had scored a total of two points. He made back-to-back 3-pointers at the end of the third period to pull Centennial within 40-29.
“It was a good opportunity for some other guys to step in and fill (Kasperbauer’s) shoes,” Delger said. (Drew) Chriswisser and Gorsh did some really nice things.”
Gorsh converted a 3-point play midway through the fourth quarter to halt an 11-1 run by the Dragons. He later connected on two free throws to ignite a 9-0 run by Centennial to end the game.
“He seized the opportunity,” Delger said. “We’ve always been high on his offensive skill set, and he really showed it tonight. He was aggressive and found his shots.”
Luke Mitchell had 10 points for the Jaguars. He scored eight of them in the first half.
Joshua Jenkins scored 17 points, Nicare Cavil chipped in 14, and Caleb Gbarjolo added 11 for Johnston, which has won five of its last six games. The Dragons’ only loss during that stretch was a one-point decision at No. 4 Dowling Catholic on Feb. 2.
Johnston improved to 7-8 in the CIML Conference and 10-8 overall. The Jaguars’ records fell to 3-12 and 5-12.
Centennial will host Southeast Polk in its conference finale on Friday before playing a non-conference game at Waterloo West on Saturday. The Rams are 3-11 in the league and 7-11 overall after losing at Dowling, 62-48, on Tuesday.
The Jaguars posted a 57-39 win at Southeast Polk on Jan. 6.
“This is a big week for us and if we could get a couple of wins, that’d be great,” Delger said. “It’s also an opportunity to get some wins going into the postseason and to give us some momentum and positivity and things like that.”
