Undefeated Johnston looking for spot in history books at Iowa girls basketball state tournament

Johnston is ranked No. 19 in the SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25 girls basketball rankings

JOHNSTON, IOWA - The Johnston girls basketball team has put up some stunning numbers. But the biggest one could arrive next Friday. 

A year ago, the Dragons took second in a 59-56 loss to Pleasant Valley in the Iowa Class 5A state championship. 

This season, the team has won all 23 games. Three more wins nets the program its third title in five years.

“We don’t want to end our careers with a loss,” said Aili Tanke, a senior who is an Iowa State recruit.

Johnston senior forward Aili Tanke is heading to Iowa State next season. (Photo by John Naughton)

No Iowa high school has reached the state championship game five consecutive years since the official state girls’ basketball tournament was sanctioned in 1920. The Dragons won the Class 5A title game in 2020 and 2022 and took second in 2021 and 2023.

Johnston is the favorite to win it all and is ranked No. 19 in the SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25 girls’ basketball rankings.

The path to the finals starts with a 10 a.m. Class 5A quarterfinal against West Des Moines Valley (13-10) Monday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The Des Moines suburb had never won a state girls’ basketball title until 2020. But the team has compiled a 115-6 record starting with the 2019-20 season. The Dragons have lost just twice in the Past three seasons and went 24-2 last year. The team returned all but four players from that team.

Iowa high school girls basketball Top 25 rankings (2/19/2024)

The Dragons feel unbeatable, says point guard Aaliyah Riley, a senior.

“From the moment we step on the court,” Riley said, confidently. “What are your chances, really?”

The closest any team has come to downing the Dragons was Ankeny Centennial, which lost 64-59 Jan. 26.

Johnston has defeated four of the eight teams in the 5A field. It also knocked off out-of-state opponents Hopkins (Minnesota) and Millard (Nebraska) West.

Tanke is a 5-11 forward/guard who leads the team in scoring (15.3 points per game) and rebounding (7.3). She’s hit 50 percent of her 3-point field-goal attempts.

Riley is scoring at a 9.1-point pace and has averaged 3.3 assists. She’s a 5-6 senior who will play at Northwest Missouri State.

Junior Amani Jenkins, a 6-1 post player (13.3 points, 6.4 rebounds) has committed to Marquette.

The biggest recruit may be Jenica Lewis, a 5-10 sophomore who averages 11.4 points. She’s been listed as a Top 25 prospect nationally. Head coach Chad Jilek said she’s received about 35 scholarship offers. That group includes at least three programs currently ranked among the Top 10 teams in the Associated Press’s Top 25.

Players are taught to pass, shoot and handle the ball.

“You can trust that anyone can hit it from anywhere on the court at any time,” Tanke said.

Johnston seniors Aaliyah Riley (left) and Aili Tanke have been a big part of Johnston's recent domination in Iowa's biggest classification of girls high school basketball. (Photo by John Naughton) 

Johnston enters the state tournament averaging 72.6 points a game while hitting nearly 40 percent of its 3-pointers.

Depth is a big part of the team’s success, too. The Dragons love to move up and down the court, and opponents find themselves breathing hard to try to keep up as the game continues.

“I think we play our best in the second half,” Tanke said.

Iowa girls high school basketball playoff brackets: 2024 IGHSAU state tournament matchups, game times

Johnston practices against boys to challenge them with a physical style common among Iowa’s largest-school class.

The boys don’t hold back.

“When they talk trash, we talk back,” Riley said.

A whiteboard in the girls’ meeting room outside the gym states three key points: Accountability, energy and focus.

The mental game is as valuable as the physical portion of the sport. A year ago, Johnston fell short against a Pleasant Valley team that finished 26-0. While undefeated seasons are not unknown in Iowa, it’s relatively uncommon for the schools in the state’s biggest class to go unbeaten. Only Pleasant Valley (last year) and Johnston’s 2022 squad finished without a loss in the past decade.

Iowa high schools have had a storied legacy for girls’ basketball.

The first state tournament was held in 1920, when Correctionville defeated Nevada 11-4.

Des Moines became the epicenter for the tournament. Small towns celebrated local girls’ accomplishments and the players were treated like celebrities when they reached Iowa’s capital city.

For generations, Iowa was known for a game known as six-on-six. The six-player game was essentially two three-on-three games divided by the halfcourt center line, which players were forbidden to cross.

Three forwards shot the ball. Three guards played defense.

Iowa didn’t bring in sanctioned five-player basketball until 1985; six-player didn’t end until the 1992-93 season, when Hubbard-Radcliffe defeated Atlantic 85-66 in the championship.

Top 25 national girls high school basketball rankings: Archbishop Mitty hangs on to No. 1 (2/20/2024)

Six-on-six was known for its unique rules, such as individual players being limited to two dribbles before being required to pass or shoot the ball.

Iowa was among the last states to switch to five-on-five.

In its heyday at Veterans Memorial Auditorium, up to 15,000 fans would attend state tournament championships.

Iowa remains the only state with its own athletic association dedicated to girls – The Iowa High School Athletic Union.

The Girls’ Union turned the state tournament into a showpiece for girls’ sports. It drew fans from across the country.

The six-player game also developed spectacular scorers.

Denise Long, who played at Union-Whitten in the late 1960s, scored a national girls’ record 6,250 points. She was drafted by the NBA’s San Francisco Warriors, though the selection was voided by the NBA commissioner.

Lynne Lorenzen, who led Ventura to a state six-player title in 1987, ended her career with 6,736 points, a national record for girls.

NCAA scoring record holder Caitlin Clark became a prolific high school scoring star at West Des Moines Dowling Catholic before going on to fame at the University of Iowa.

Johnston’s girls are adding to that rich basketball legacy.

One of those notable standards is the team’s entry into national rankings.

A point of pride is that Johnston is a public school from Iowa, not a private institution or school built around athletic programs.

“It’s nice to be a public school against all those academies,” Tanke said.

Every time the team breaks from a huddle, they shout, “attitude.”

At Johnston High School, the attitude is positive, heavy with pride and determination, and loaded with confidence in its ability to complete a perfect season.

“It’s a really good thing to be around,” Riley said.

--John Naghton | @SBLiveIA