(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
In less than two weeks, there’s a chance that the Ankeny boys’ basketball team’s path to a state tournament appearance will run through Waukee Northwest.
But the Hawks tossed fourth-ranked Northwest and No. 2 Waukee an assist to close out the regular season.
Ankeny used a pair of big runs in the second and third quarters to post a 61-51 victory over visiting Dowling Catholic on Thursday, preventing the No. 3 Maroons from earning a share of the CIML Conference title and giving the Hawks some major momentum heading into the postseason.
“I think that was one of the best games of basketball that we’ve played as a full team together,” said senior guard Rio Aguirre, who led Ankeny with a game-high 24 points. “That was really a key coming into tonight. Just playing our game, playing as a team, making sure everybody touches the ball and gets going on their own because it’s hard to guard five guys.”
When the two teams met earlier this month, Dowling got 25 points from junior Alfred Kolee and used a 22-10 advantage in the second quarter to defeat the Hawks, 63-53.
Kolee helped his team get off to another good start on Thursday, paired with two early 3-pointers from Maddox Coppola. The Maroons held the lead for most of the first half and took their biggest advantage at 22-13 following a putback by Kolee with 3 minutes 23 seconds left in the second quarter.
“We let them get off to a good start and I think we were still being too soft, letting them get whatever they wanted,” Aguirre said. “Offensive rebounds and easy points in the paint. We had to dig deep into our guys that we had to work hard, and I think we made that change in the second quarter and that’s when we got going.”
A Cayden Clark jumper on the ensuing possession completely turned the game around in the final 3 minutes before the break. Aguirre capitalized on an and-one opportunity, and senior Carson Bright drained a 3-pointer to cut the lead down to a point.
The Maroons got a bucket from Charlie Crane before Aguirre tied the game with a 3-pointer and then scored on a fast break to cap off a 13-2 run that gave Ankeny a 26-24 lead at the half.
“We kind of took a gamble there, went with a smaller lineup, tried to spread them out and offensively I thought that worked,” said Ankeny coach Brandt Carlson. “Defensively, surprisingly, it also worked as well. Keyon Ford and Andrew Brandhorst were animals in there, being physical and just tried to compete with those big guys.”
Clark ultimately sparked another big run in the third quarter by knocking down a 3-pointer after the Maroons opened the second half with a 6-2 run. Brandhorst followed with a 3-ball of his own.
Junior guard Jasani Campbell–who suffered a knee injury during the first meeting at Dowling–was held scoreless in the first half, but then scored five straight points to cap off an 11-0 run that pushed the margin to 39-30.
“Jasani didn’t have a huge first half, but I think he was a little stagnant, so I talked with him a little bit and told him to get moving,” Aguirre said. “Once he starts getting downhill and making plays for everyone else, no one can guard us.”
Campbell ended up scoring all 10 of his points in the second half and played a big role in helping the Hawks close out the game down the stretch alongside Aguirre and Ford.
Ankeny was able to contain Kolee after some buckets early in the third quarter, but it was Noah Martens that tried to will the Maroons back into the game.
Martens had scored just two points going into the fourth quarter before the senior guard made all three of his 3-pointers and scored 13 of his 15 points in the final 8 minutes. Kolee, meanwhile, finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
But Aguirre scored 11 of his points in the final period, while Campbell chipped in five of his 10 and Ford added six of his eight to hold off the Maroons.
“I thought Sammy Cowart came in, played some good defense and he’s been working really hard on that, Carson did a great job on Martens and Rio was just a warrior again,” Carlson said. “It’s just fun to see the guys come together and get a signature win on the season and kind of get some momentum for the postseason.”
The Hawks finished 7-9 in the conference and improved to 11-10 overall, while the loss ended Dowling’s five-game winning streak. The Maroons’ records dropped to 13-3 and 18-3, leaving them a game behind co-champions Waukee and Northwest (both 14-2).
Fresh off impressive back-to-back victories, Ankeny will now have to wait a week to begin postseason play. The second-seeded Hawks will host Iowa City West (13-8) or Valley (1-19) in a Class 4A substate semifinal on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m.
“It’s tough because we have a week off now,” Carlson said. “Really at the end of the day, this is a third season coming up. You just embrace first and second seasons, up to Christmas and Christmas to the end of the regular season, and you take that information, try to build back up for the postseason because everybody’s 0-0 at that point.”
Northwest (18-4) holds the top seed and will likely be the team to beat if the Hawks want to return to the state tournament for the second time in three seasons. The Wolves won both meetings against Ankeny during the regular season, 64-45 and 58-49.
“We kept talking about how we needed some momentum going into the postseason,” Aguirre said. “This might not matter toward our substate because it’s already out, but the next game is the most important game for us every time. (Dowling) is a really good team and a state (tournament) level team, so it’s good to get this win.”
