There was no chance that Rio Aguirre and the Ankeny boys’ basketball team were going to overlook their first opponent in postseason play.
CIML Conference rival Valley entered Friday’s game at Ankeny with just two wins, but the Tigers were still the three-time defending Class 4A state champions.
And, they were riding the momentum of a 62-59 triumph at Iowa City West in a substate quarterfinal on Monday.
“We weren’t too worried whether they beat Iowa City West or not, but it was good to play a team we have already played twice and have a good feel for so that was mainly the thing,” said Aguirre, whose squad rolled to a 72-36 victory. “It definitely got our attention (when Valley won). We always say the postseason is a new season so they weren’t 2-20 or whatever their record was. They were 1-0 so we just treated them like that.”
The Hawks wasted no time in taking control of the game. They jumped out to a 13-0 lead behind a trio of 3-point goals from Keyon Ford, Aguirre and Kael Roush.
Valley didn’t get on the scoreboard until Jack Gale made a pair of free throws with 1 minute 17 seconds left in the first quarter.
“It was fun to watch,” said Ankeny coach Brandt Carlson. “I think sometimes those games are tough when you play a team a third time and you’ve had success but yet you have to do it again. The guys definitely came out with some defensive intensity, and that helped a lot. Our shots went down, and the first quarter was huge for us for sure.”
After Ankeny’s Jasani Campbell made the second of two free throws, Aguirre followed with a jumper and a 3-pointer to to give the Hawks a 19-2 advantage at the end of the period.
Aguirre dribbled up the floor in the final seconds and beat the buzzer with a shot from just inside the half-court line.
“Once it left my hands, it definitely felt good but I’ve had a lot of deep half-court shots to end the quarters all season and haven’t made one yet so it was kind of fun to make one tonight,” Aguirre said. “I don’t think In high school I’ve hit a deeper one than that. It kind of just capped off the quarter we had; it was nice to have everybody making shots.”
Ankeny’s hot start carried over to the second quarter, which began with a dunk from Max Allison. Roush followed with a 3-pointer, then Aguirre hit two more treys to extend the margin to 30-2 with 4:15 left in the half.
Valley finally got its first basket 18 seconds later from Jayden Adaway, who then converted a free throw to complete a 3-point play. The Tigers eventually closed the half with a 9-4 run to close the gap to 34-11, but Ankeny regrouped at the break and then pulled away in the last two periods.
“We watched (Valley) play Iowa City West, and I really thought they were improved from the last time we played them,” Carlson said. “It feels good to win and move on. We feel very fortunate.”
Aguirre scored 18 of his 23 points in the first half, finishing with 20+ points for the ninth time this season. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 10 assists to record a rare triple-double.
“Rio’s really starting to come on, leading well and not just with his scoring but with his demeanor, his defensive intensity and his rebounding,” Carlson said. “Guys really take on his challenges and try to go with him. I thought we got a lot of great contributions, and it was really fun to see.”
Carson Bright had 11 points and two steals in his 16 minutes off the bench, while Campbell and Roush each chipped in eight points. Ford and Drew Sorensen each had seven points, and Allison contributed three blocks.
Ankeny shot 53.7 percent from the field (29-of-54), including 10-of-25 from 3-point range (40.0 percent). Aguirre went 4-of-7 from behind the arc, and Roush went 2-of-5.
The Hawks (12-10) advanced to Tuesday’s substate final at third-ranked Waukee Northwest (19-4). Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
The Wolves rolled to a 101-58 victory over Iowa City Liberty on Friday. Nebraska recruit Colin Rice set a school record with 50 points in the win, going 19-of-23 from the field and 5-of-8 from deep.
“I was kind of like, ‘Oh no, here we go,'” Carlson said of his reaction to Rice’s outburst. “He’s really talented, and that’s a great team. But our guys are looking forward to it. They’re not necessarily worried about it. It’s a great opportunity.”
Northwest won both meetings against Ankeny during the regular season. The Wolves got 26 points from sophomore Nash Kooken in a 64-45 road victory on Jan. 9.
In the rematch on Feb. 10 at Northwest, the Hawks trailed by just 41-39 after three quarters before dropping a 58-49 decision. Illinois commit Landon Davis led the Wolves with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
“As a lot of people would say, ‘You’ve got nothing to lose.’ And that’s true in tournament play,” Carlson said. “You just go for it, and we’ve had some success at Northwest the past few years at times. It’ll be a great challenge for us to see what we can do.”
