A big first quarter gave Ankeny Centennial the cushion it needed to reach the Class 5A semifinals for the second time in three years.
Centennial stifled Pleasant Valley through the opening quarter in building a 20-5 lead, then held off the Spartans the rest of the way to escape with a 51-47 victory and set up a third meeting this season with defending state champion Johnston.
Johnston won the regular-season games 55-43 and 68-49. They’ll meet again in the semifinals at 10 a.m. Thursday.
Ava Miller sparked Centennial’s fast start with three early 3-pointers and led the Jaguars (17-7) with 20 points. She made her first six shots from distance and finished 6-for-8.
Jaeden Pratt and Mya Crawford each scored 10 points for Centennial. Pratt added 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals to her line, while Crawford had eight rebounds, five assists and two steals. The two will be Missouri Valley Conference rivals next season, Crawford going to Drake and Pratt headed for Illinois State.
Another Drake signee, 6-foot-4 Quinn Vice, led Pleasant Valley (19-5) with 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting, including a 3-pointer. Reagan Pagniano added 11 points, three assists and five steals for the Spartans. She and Vice were key figures when Pleasant Valley won the state championship two years ago.
Centennial forced eight turnovers and limited Pleasant Valley to just two field goals in jumping to its early lead. The Jaguars maintained that edge in leading 37-22 at halftime and went up 48-28 when Crawford drove for a basket with 2:43 left in the third quarter.
That would be Centennial’s last field goal and the Spartans scored 19 of the final 22 points to throw a scare into the Jaguars, whose late ball-handling problems left them with 18 turnovers by the time it ended.
With PV down 10 with less than 90 seconds to play, Isabelle Kremer scored twice inside and Pagniano took the ball in for a layup after a steal, cutting the lead to 51-47. The Spartans then got a sliver of hope when Crawford missed two free throws with 16.8 seconds left, but they missed two forced shots and Centennial advanced, keeping coach Scott DeJong in the running for an eighth state title. He won with Centennial in 2016 and had six at Ankeny.
