Waukee Northwest boys basketball cruises past Ankeny Centennial in state quarterfinal
Third-seeded Waukee Northwest boys basketball cruised past 6-seed Ankeny Centennial with a 55-37 victory in an Iowa boys state tournament quarterfinal on Wednesday.
The win bumped the Wolves (22-1) into the Class 4A semifinal, where Northwest will face No. 2 seed Waukee on Thursday, Mar. 9 at 7:15 p.m. It will be the third meeting between the two teams this season, with each having won once.
“Centennial did a great job of coming out, being aggressive,” said Northwest coach Brett Watson. “I was most proud of our defense all the way through, but it took us a while offensively to get going. Once the ball went through the hoop…and then you get to a 20-point lead, you feel pretty good about it.”
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Northwest scored the first points of the game and then kept pace with Centennial (16-8). When the Wolves managed to pull ahead, the Jaguars stayed with their opponent. Jack Kerby hit one of two free throws at the end of the first quarter and tied the game at 11 apiece.
Drew Schreurs knocked down a 3-pointer to give Centennial the lead 33 seconds into the second quarter, and then it was all on the defense. The Jaguars held Northwest scoreless for the next 3:05.
But, after Schreurs’ 3-pointer, the Wolves outscored Centennial, 12-0, and headed to the locker room with a 9-point lead. Northwest shot 42.1% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc in the first half, compared to Centennial’s 21.1% success rate from the field.
“It starts with defense,” said Northwest's Cade Kelderman. “We can’t worry about if the shot goes in, but we can control our defense. Honestly, we were allowing too many offensive rebounds and once we put an emphasis on that…that eliminates second chances.”
Northwest refused to slow down in the third quarter. The Wolves outscored their opponent, 17-4, and were up by 22 points to start the fourth quarter. The lead allowed Northwest to empty its bench in the final minutes of the game, long after the win was secured.
Pryce Sandfort scored a game-high 24 points to lead Northwest past Centennial.
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Slow start for Sandfort
Sandfort didn’t record any points in the first quarter and it took nearly four minutes into the second for the Iowa signee to put any points on the scoreboard.
Once Sandfort gets going, though, it’s tough to slow him down. He scored 7 points before the end of the second quarter and was in the double digits early on in the third quarter. He finished with 24 points.
Sandfort added nine rebounds (eight defensive), three steals and two blocks.
Northwest's top player was able to get away with a slow start thanks to strong performances from his teammates. Kelderman led the Wolves with 8 points at the end of the first half, and Henry Manning and Grant Tigges were contributors on both ends of the court.
“We’re ready to go,” Kelderman said. “If he’s having an off night, we’re gonna do whatever we can to make it easier for him. And if we have to carry the scoring for a little bit until he gets going, we’ll do that. Whatever it takes.”
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A glimmer of hope for Ankeny Centennial
The final score might not show it, but the Jaguars’ future looks bright. Several of Centennial’s top players — and most of the bench — are juniors, which means they should all return for one more season of high school basketball.
“I told our seniors that I appreciated their leadership,” said Centennial coach Bob Fontana. “And I told our underclassmen, ‘They left their legacy, now it’s your job to follow through and take another step forward.’”
Centennial’s top scorer, Luke Winkel, was limited by foul trouble and the Jaguars’ size — or lack thereof — made things tough in the paint. While this Jaguars squad has surprised some opponents, Northwest’s experience in the state tournament and veteran leadership was a lot to go up against in the quarterfinal round.
Still, when Winkel stays out of foul trouble, he is dangerous. There is a reason the Jaguars beat Cedar Falls to get to the Wells Fargo Arena in the first place. Chase Schutty and Nick Vaske were just two players who matched up well against Sandfort.
“What hurt us in the second quarter was Winkel picking up his third foul,” Fontana said. “Hadn’t been in foul trouble all year. And our last 11 possession of the half, we had nine turnovers. We had a season-high 17 turnovers and averaged 8.5 all year.
“Our inability to take care of the ball when needed…and you have to put the ball in the basket. When you play defense the way we did in the first half, you’d like to think you’ve got a great opportunity to win against a team like that.”
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Pryce Sandfort leads Waukee Northwest boys basketball past Ankeny Centennial
