There was no reason for Ankeny seniors Ainsley Kiene and Jayla Williams to shed any tears while they answered questions from reporters in the media interview room on Thursday at the girls’ state basketball tournament.
The sixth-ranked Hawkettes had left it all out on the court at the Casey’s Center, where they dropped a 49-39 decision to No. 1 Johnston in a Class 5A semifinal that was much closer than many people anticipated.
“We’re super proud,” said Kiene. “We made it to the Final Four and lost to the No. 1 team in the state. There’s not really a lot to be upset about. We played our hardest, and we just couldn’t complete (the rally) at the end.”
Johnston (26-0) overcame a 20-18 halftime deficit to earn its 78th consecutive victory, the longest winning streak in the country. The Dragons will try to capture a third straight Class 5A crown when they face No. 3 Waukee Northwest (19-5) on Friday at 6 p.m.
Ankeny finished its third season under coach Nate Tobey at 16-9, equaling the most wins by the Hawkettes since the split into two high schools. The 2021-22 team coached by Dru McAnelly went 16-7.
This was Ankeny’s 27th trip to state, tied with Dowling Catholic for the most in tournament history. But it was the first appearance since 2013 for the Hawkettes, who extended their own record by defeating Cedar Rapids Washington in Monday’s quarterfinals for their 44th state tournament win.
“Just to get here and advance a round was a huge deal for this program, our school and our community,” said Tobey. “I’m really excited that this senior group was able to accomplish that.”
For much of Thursday’s game, Ankeny threatened to pull off perhaps the biggest upset in the history of the tournament. The Hawkettes had lost twice to Johnston during the regular season by a combined 41 points, but they closed the first half with an 11-0 run to erase the Dragons’ 18-9 advantage.
“We played really hard,” said Williams. “They went on a run at the start, but we were able to pick it up in the second quarter and at halftime we were able to make it a game. It gave us momentum. We were so confident, and we were able to shoot with confidence–even though they weren’t all falling.”
Ankeny made just 1-of-11 shots in the opening period, which allowed the Dragons to jump out to a 13-3 lead. But the margin could have been even bigger.
“I don’t think we had the concentration we needed in that first half,” said Johnston coach Chad Jilek. “I thought we should have been up about 23-3 at the end of the first quarter, but we missed too many bunnies and wide-open shots. That gave Ankeny a little fuel to make that run and take the lead.”
After McDonald’s all-American Jenica Lewis made a 3-point goal to give Johnston an 18-9 lead in the second quarter, Kiene answered with a triple of her own to ignite the Hawkettes’ rally.
“We got back to our game plan and slowed down a little bit and managed our possessions,” Tobey said. “That was really helpful.”
Kiene later converted a layup with 1 minute left to cut the margin to 18-17. Ali Aguirre then connected on a 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining to put Ankeny ahead at the break.
Aguirre scored all nine of her points in the first half.
“I think the first quarter we were a little nervous,” Kiene said. “We just needed to settle in. Once we got to the second quarter, we started playing better defense and started rebounding better. We just knew what we were doing on both offense and defense, and I think our communication helped a lot. That’s been a little bit of a struggle at times this year, but I think that was the best we have communicated all year.”
Johnston took the lead for good with an 8-0 run to open the second half. Lewis capped the flurry with a 3-pointer that put the Dragons ahead, 26-20, with 4:13 left in the third quarter.
Williams later converted a steal into a layup to cut the deficit to 28-26, but Lewis then responded with a traditional 3-point play to give her team some breathing room.
“Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games,” Jilek said of Lewis. “We were kind of focused on getting the ball to her, because if she can’t score she can create something for us and she did a great job.”
Jaliyah Kinnetz made a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left to give Johnston a 36-29 lead after three quarters. The Dragons extended the margin to 11 points in the final period before Ankeny rallied again, getting a 3-pointer from Reagan Baldwin and seven consecutive points from Williams in a 10-3 run.
Williams scored off an inbounds play with 3:44 left to pull her team within 43-39, but the Hawkettes never scored again. Arianna Phillips grabbed a rebound and put it back in with 2:34 to go for the Dragons, who eventually made 4-of-6 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
“It was pretty tight the last two quarters, but they were just able to finish it out at the end and make their free throws,” Williams said.
Williams finished with 20 points on 8-of-18 shooting. She also had four steals.
Kiene contributed five points, eight rebounds and three steals. Kiene and Kyla Schaapveld each dished out two assists.
The Hawkettes outshot Johnston from the field (39.5 percent to 37.5 percent), but made just 3-of-21 attempts from 3-point range (14.3 percent) after going 12-of-29 from deep against Cedar Rapids Washington.
“We showed a lot of fight,” Tobey said. “We just picked a bad time to have a cold shooting game against such a great team. We just kept fighting regardless of our shots not going in, and I’m proud of the girls for that.”
The Dragons outrebounded Ankeny by a 35-20 margin and also won the turnover battle (15-12). They scored 12 second-chance points while the Hawkettes had none.
Lewis led the way with 22 points and eight rebounds. She went 3-of-9 from behind the arc.
Williams showed at times, though, that she’s one of the few players in the state who can match Lewis’ athleticism. She stole the ball from the Notre Dame recruit on a couple of occasions.
“We’re both really good players,” Williams said. “We just have different strengths.”
Phillips had a double-double for Johnston, finishing with 10 points and 10 boards. Kelli Kalb added three assists and four steals.
The Hawkettes will now have to replace five seniors. Williams, Kiene, Baldwin and Schaapveld will all graduate along with sixth man Allison Hawkins.
“I hope our underclassmen can just look up and be proud of this season,” Kiene said. “I surely am proud of it. We did everything we could, and we can’t really be upset about our loss today. We gave it our all.”
