The #5 Indianola girls basketball team picked up a hard fought win against the Hawks of Ankeny Monday evening 54-47, while the boys fell in their physical contest 72-60.
The Indians girls never trailed in their contest, leading 10-2 in the early minutes then leading 15-8 at the end of the first, and as Ankeny refused to let the game get out of hand in the second quarter the Indians eventually built a 27-18 halftime lead. The Indians fluctuated between a 6-10 point lead through the third quarter, leading 43-33 going into the fourth, but Ankeny again refused to go away. After the Hawks got the lead down to 4 points several times in the final frame, the Indians made just enough free throws to finish the win. Head coach Jeff Janssen tells KNIA Sports he feels that this team is so confident in the way they are playing right now.
“Our girls know they belong. We have great camaraderie, we have a great sense of who we are as a team, and we have a team of best friends. No matter how goofy the dance moves are, or the celebrations, or even in the low times when there is crying in the locker room and being emotional like after the loss last week. Our girls are so close, and we can hold each other accountable because of that.”
Lauren Blake led the team with 21 points and 9 rebounds, while Emily Naughton had 14 points.
The Indians boys were ice cold from beyond the arc in their matchup with the Hawks, finishing just 7/26 from deep in the contest that was controlled by Ankeny from early on. It took nearly four minutes for Indianola to get on the board, but the defense kept them in the game and they trailed 17-11 at the end of the first and 37-31 at halftime.
After a strong defensive quarter of only giving up 16 points to the Hawks in the third, the Indians could only 13 themselves and couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole late despite keeping the game within reach throughout the final quarter. Drew Kingery led the Indians with 22 points, while Charlie Willmott had 9.
The girls improve to 4-1, the boys fall to 2-2, and both teams return to conference play Friday on the road at Dallas Center-Grimes.