(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
Next week, the Ankeny Centennial and Ames boys’ basketball teams will be playing to keep their seasons alive in the same Class 4A substate bracket.
But the Jaguars were simply focused on the task at hand of hosting the sixth-ranked Little Cyclones while trying to close out the home stretch of the season with some positive momentum.
Centennial kept Tuesday’s game close and had a fourth-quarter rally that put an upset victory within reach, but the Jaguars just weren’t able to get over the hump in a 52-45 loss.
“What you saw was our guys’ confidence and pace of offense slowly increased as the game went on,” said Centennial coach Matt Delger, whose team’s record dropped to 7-13. “That’s definitely something we can build off of if we can play the way we did in the second half for four quarters.”
One of the biggest struggles of the night for the Jaguars was getting their shots to fall in the first half as they were held to just 12 points going into the break.
Luke Mitchell made an early 3-point goal before Ames (19-2) jumped out to an 8-3 lead. Sophomores Keaton Kasperbauer and McClain Gorsh went on a 5-2 run to pull the game back within two points at the end of the first quarter.
The Little Cyclones took advantage of Centennial’s low-scoring second period to build a 22-12 halftime advantage. A fast-break layup for Mitchell and a putback by senior Will Perpich were the only two buckets of the quarter for the Jaguars.
“We’ve got to get off to a better start and a better first half than 12 points in the half,” Delger said.
A dunk by Ames’ DJ Bijiek to open the second half had the Jaguars looking at their largest deficit of the game before senior Kolby Bechen turned things around for Centennial with back-to-back 3-pointers.
Kasperbauer and senior Brody Prill managed to reel the game back within four points when another offensive slump opened the door for a 13-2 run by the Little Cyclones, which included nine straight points by Ames seniors Will Thomas and Kuach Kuach at the end of the third quarter.
The Jaguars faced a 15-point deficit to open the final period before a pair of free throws by Kasperbauer ignited the late rally.
Centennial was able to cut into Ames’ lead behind Kasperbauer’s scoring touch near the hoop and a combined four 3-pointers from Mitchell and Gorsh.
“We just scrapped, and that’s who we are,” Delger said. “Flying around, bringing that defensive energy and that scrap energy we talk about every day and shots started falling. Once shots start falling, confidence increases, we get more and more aggressive and good things happen.”
Mitchell made his second triple of the quarter to make it a five-point game with under 2 minutes left to play.
Centennial came close to forcing a turnover to get the ball back following a Gorsh free throw with about 20 seconds remaining, but officials ruled a loose ball that got knocked out of play went out off Gorsh instead of Ames’ Moses Lueth.
Another incident followed on the ensuing inbounds pass where Kasperbauer and Ames’ Ben Weiss got tangled up, which ended with Weiss falling on top of Kasperbauer.
Thomas ultimately drew the foul after catching the ball and got sent to the free-throw line, where he made one attempt and Weiss then added another to help ice the game.
Kasperbauer led the Jaguars with 14 points, while Mitchell had 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Gorsh added eight points for Centennial, which played its second straight game without leading scorer Hunter Runchey.
“He is just nursing a bum ankle,” Delger said of Runchey. “He should be back soon.”
Thomas paced Ames with 20 points. Kuach had 13 points, while Bijiek added 12 points and six rebounds.
“There’s a lot of value in being able to play the No. 1 team in our substate right now,” Delger said. “You can learn from it and hopefully get them the second time around.”
Despite the loss, the Jaguars are feeling pretty confident with where they’re at as the end of the regular season approaches.
Centennial won back-to-back games against Southeast Polk and Waterloo West and then battled Ames to the wire. The two teams could meet again in the substate final.
For now, the Jaguars will keep their sights set on closing out the regular season strong at home against Des Moines Lincoln (8-13) on Thursday before prepping for Monday’s first-round matchup with Fort Dodge (4-17).
“To be honest, we haven’t really talked about or looked at the postseason yet,” Delger said. “Right now it’s Lincoln, and that’s all we’re worried about. We’ll just keep taking it one opponent, one game at a time like we’ve done all year and keep improving.”
