Centennial Jaguars pull off victory over Waterloo West, will face Johnston in 5A semifinals

Johnston had no problems with Southeast Polk

By Ryan Timmerman | Photos by Matthew Putney  

DES MOINES -- The Ankeny Centennial Jaguars came up with the first surprise of the IGHSAU girls basketball state tournament in dramatic fashion. 

Ankeny Centennial, seeded sixth in Class 5A entering the state tournament, took down third-seeded Waterloo West at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on Monday, 60-51.

Waterloo West jumped out to a 6-2 lead to start, getting all six points off of three Centennial turnovers, but the Jaguars cleaned it up after that, tied it at 12-12, took a 20-15 lead to the second and held off the Wahawks from there. 

Both teams tightened up the defense coming out of halftime, but Centennial won the third by a 12-7 margin to take a 41-31 lead to the final eight minutes of play.

In the fourth, Centennial (18-6) iced it by sinking 13 of 17 free throws. Senior Makenna Clark made 11 of 12 herself to finish with a team-high 20 points to go with three rebounds and three assists. 

In total, the Jaguars converted 22 of 30 attempts from the line. 

Waterloo West (22-2) was led by senior Halli Poock’s game-high 24.

Poock shot 4 of 7 from 3-point range and came up with big baskets to keep hope alive for the Wahawks into the fourth before Centennial closed it out.

One of Poock’s three assists went to senior Niya McGee for a layup that made it a one-possession game at 27-24 Centennial.

But as they would throughout the game, the Jaguars found an answer.

Senior Kennedy White scored the final first-half basket on an offensive rebound and putback to extend the Centennial lead to 29-24. 

That stood until halftime and just as it did in the first quarter, Centennial outscored West by five in the third frame and the Wahawks could only cut into the lead by one in the fourth, winning that quarter, 20-19, which would be fine by the Jaguars as the lead held.

West sophomore Sahara Williams fouled out in the final minutes, but she ended with a game-high 13 rebounds and 11 points.

The Wahawks made three more shot attempts throughout the game (20 to 17), but were only 5 of 8 from the free throw line while Centennial relied on the charity stripe to supply more than a third of its point total for the game. 

Johnston dominates SE Polk for third win over Rams this season

Johnston’s Emma Hampton found a rhythm early and helped her Class 5A No. 2-seeded Dragons move to the state semifinals.

Hampton scored half of her team’s first 16 points as the Dragons opened up a seven-point lead after the opening eight minutes of play Monday morning at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines at the IGHSAU girls basketball state tournament, and Johnston would take out seventh-seeded Southeast Polk, 70-48.

Johnston expanded its 34-24 halftime lead in the early minutes of the second half, as the Dragons took a 34-23 lead to the locker room, but that advantage swelled to 54-31 by the end of the third. 

It was the third time the Central Iowa Metro League rivals squared off this season, and all went in favor of Johnston (23-1).

Hampton, a 6-foot-1 senior and University of Iowa soccer recruit, ended the game 7 of 8 on field goal attempts for 15 points, one of three Dragons to finish in double figures. Johnston’s Aili Tanke, a 5-foot-11 junior headed to Iowa State for basketball, finished with a double-double in going for 16 points and 11 rebounds, both game highs.

Southeast Polk (15-8) was led in scoring by Drake recruit Brooklin Dailey. The 6-foot senior ended her prep career by leading the Rams with 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Jacie Mitchell chipped in nine points for the Rams.

Dailey finishes her career third all-time on Southeast Polk’s scoring list after she topped 1,000 career points this season. It was the fourth trip to state in the past six seasons for Southeast Polk.