(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
After 13 years, the wait is officially over.
The Ankeny girls’ basketball team is headed to the state tournament.
The sixth-ranked Hawkettes ended their drought by defeating No. 11 Sioux City East, 60-30, in a Class 5A regional final on Tuesday at Ankeny.
“It’s so incredible!” senior guard Ainsley Kiene said with a smile after the win. “We literally just made history today, and we’ve worked so hard all season. I think we deserved this.”
The moment of punching their ticket to state has been a long time coming.
The Hawkettes haven’t reached the tournament since 2013–right before Ankeny’s split into two high schools. After Ankeny Centennial opened, a lot of the postseason success followed the Jaguars to the north side.
Ankeny has had some chances to end the drought in recent years, but the Hawkettes came out on the short end in five consecutive regional finals from 2021-25. They lost the last four of those games by a total of 15 points.
“It feels amazing,” said senior guard Jayla Williams. “Especially since the last four years I’ve been here as well, I’ve been a part of those teams where we’re right there and just haven’t been able to follow through. So being able to get this win by a margin like that feels great.”
That’s why Tuesday night was all the more important, especially for the Hawkette seniors.
With one last chance to reach the state tournament, the seniors stepped up to end the drought in emphatic fashion with a 30-point blowout victory.
“Our team loves each other, and we’ve come together,” said Kiene, who had four of Ankeny’s 10 steals. “This is the first year where I’ve wanted it so badly, like I didn’t want the season to come to an end today. ”
One of the seniors made some school history in the process.
Going into the night, Williams was 21 points shy of tying the program’s longtime single-season scoring record of 484 that was set by Erica Junod during the 1998-99 campaign.
Williams tied the mark with a jumper to open the fourth quarter and ultimately broke the record by making two free throws just a few minutes later. She finished the night with 23 points to bring her season total to 486.
“I didn’t even know (that I broke the record), that’s crazy,” said Williams, who also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out six assists. “It’s been a lot (of work to get here). Playing AAU and going to the gym a lot throughout the years. It helps that my teammates get me great shots. They know when to clear if I’m driving, and they know that if the help steps over they know to get to their spots so I can try to get them the open looks. It’s not just my scoring, they also contribute a lot to that.”
Williams leads Class 5A in scoring (21.1 points), steals (3.5) and field goals made (8.1) per game. Now, she is on the cusp of becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer.
The Creighton recruit has poured in 1,381 points in her career, just 11 shy of the record of 1,392 that was set by Nicky Wieben from 2002-05.
“(Williams) is the best of all time,” said Ankeny coach Nate Tobey. “She showed it tonight in as big of a scenario as possible. We love her for that, she’s at her best in big games against the best opponents and that was certainly true tonight.”
Williams and fellow seniors Reagan Baldwin and Kiene were crucial in helping Ankeny overcome a slow start against East before the Hawkettes pulled away to a commanding lead.
The Black Raiders opened the game on a 5-0 run and it took a few minutes for Ankeny to get on the board, which came off a pair of free throws by Kiene.
Williams immediately followed with a 3-point goal and another basket to put the Hawkettes ahead. Baldwin knocked down her first 3-pointer shortly thereafter, then Williams and Kiene ended the quarter by making back-to-back buckets for a 14-9 lead.
“Sioux City East is a great team, and they had a great game plan coming in,” Tobey said. “We just made some mental errors and were maybe too excited to start the game. We calmed down and just made the simple plays the rest of the way, and that’s all it took.”
The Hawkettes then outscored East in the second quarter, 21-4, to build a 35-13 advantage. Callie Stull ended the half in style for Ankeny as the sophomore guard narrowly beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer.
East (17-6) managed a bucket to open the second half and later added a 3-pointer, but those were the only five points the Black Raiders scored in the third quarter. Ankeny used a 14-0 run that was highlighted by 3-pointers from Kiene and Kyla Schaapveld to extend the margin to 51-18.
“We had great energy the whole game and we had a bunch of players come in, step up and make shots,” Kiene said. “Callie hit a shot at the buzzer, Allison (Hawkins) hit a 3, everybody contributed like they should, and that helped us win. It was a team effort.”
All Ankeny needed in the fourth quarter was Williams’ four points to become the new holder of the single-season scoring record, Baldwin’s third and final 3-pointer of the night, and some free throws from Emma Worley to put the icing on the cake.
Eight different Hawkettes got into the scoring column. Baldwin and Schaapveld each had nine points, and Kiene chipped in seven.
Ankeny (15-8) will face No. 5 Cedar Rapids Washington (18-4) in a Class 5A quarterfinal on Monday at the Casey’s Center. Tip-off is at 11:45 a.m.
Washington advanced with a 69-59 win over No. 13 Cedar Rapids Prairie. That game was tied at halftime before the Warriors pulled away behind the duo of Samantha Becker and Sira Doumbia, who each finished with 22 points.
Doumbia, a 6-foot-4 junior, averages 16.0 points and 10.1 rebounds. Becker averages 15.1 points, leads the team in assists (47) and steals (62), and leads Class 5A with 97 free throws made.
Washington opened its season with back-to-back losses to two other CIML Conference opponents, Valley (59-46) and Waukee Northwest (72-47). The Warriors later defeated Waukee, 65-60.
The winner of Monday’s game will play either No. 1 Johnston (24-0) or No. 12 Ankeny Centennial (12-11) in Thursday’s semifinals at 10 a.m.
“Well we’re going to have to keep being us and keep shoring up some things that’ve hurt us against some of the teams we’d be playing against,” Tobey said. “But overall, I really like where we’re at and I’m glad we have some time to rest and prepare for (the tournament).”
