DES MOINES, Iowa – Looking for a spark on offense, Ankeny found it beyond the 3-point arc.
The fifth-seeded Hawks knocked down eight shots from deep during a 22-4 second-half run that sent them to a 57-44 victory over No. 4 seed Cedar Rapids Washington and into the Class 5A semifinals.
They now face a rematch with top-seeded Johnston at 10 a.m. on Thursday. Johnston, winner of the last two state championships, beat Ankeny twice during the regular season, 74-51 in early December and 50-32 just before the start of regional play. The Dragons (25-0) advanced with a 54-30 win over Ankeny Centennial.
Ankeny (16-8) has been Iowa’s most successful team in state tournament play, but until this year the program had gone without a state tourney trip since 2013, which was the first season the city added a second high school. The Hawks are now 44-17 in state tourney play with a state-record nine championships, the last in 2005.
They were trailing in this one until starting their binge from distance late in the third quarter. Kyla Schaapveld connected to cut Washington’s lead to 37-36, then buried another trey at the start of the fourth quarter to put the Hawks up 39-37, their first lead since 15-14 early in the second period. And they were just getting warmed up.
Four more triples followed in the next six minutes – three of them by Regan Baldwin – and with 2:39 left in the game, the lead had ballooned to 55-41 and the Hawks were well on their way to the victory, their first at state since the 2013 quarterfinals. Things were going so well for the Hawks that when they misfired on a 3-point shot, Ainsley Kiene scored on a putback after snaring the rebound.
Ankeny went 8-for-17 from deep in the second half and 12-for-29 for the game. The final two quarters were a sharp turnaround for the Hawks, who were outscored 15-5 in the second period while making just one of nine shots. Washington (18-5) led 24-20 at halftime and was up by as many as six points before Ankeny found its shooting touch.
Jayla Williams led Ankeny with 18 points and stuffed the stat sheet with 13 rebounds, four assists, five steals and two blocks. Schaapveld and Baldwin each scored 15 points, with Schaapveld finishing 5-for-8 from distance and Baldwin 5-for-10.
Washington, also at state for the first time since 2013, has made great strides after going 1-21 three years ago. Samantha Becker, one of the seniors who helped spark that revival, led the Warriors with 13 points and Lily Belle Becker scored 11. Sira Doumbia, a promising 6-foot-4 junior, added seven points, seven rebounds and three assists.
