HIGH SCHOOL

Girls' state basketball: Ankeny Centennial edges Southeast Polk on buzzer-beater

Des Moines Register

Ankeny Centennial girls’ basketball coach Scott De Jong had a special play in mind for his team’s final possession Monday.

De Jong was anticipating Southeast Polk’s defense to be spread out, giving senior Maggie Phipps a chance to get open, run down the floor and get a good look for a game-winning basket with 6.3 seconds remaining at Wells Fargo Arena.

That plan immediately fell apart — the Jaguars’ in-bounds pass in the final seconds of a tied game was tipped away. But De Jong still got the outcome he was looking for.

Jackie Pippett banked in a game-winning layup as time expired, giving Ankeny Centennial a big — and controversial — 47-45 win over Southeast Polk in the Class 5A girls' basketball quarterfinals.

“Not like we envisioned,” De Jong said. “Life’s like that. It’s like a box of chocolates: 'You’re never sure what you’re going to get.' We had a play drawn up, and they broke it.”

The broken play nearly sent the two teams to overtime. Instead, Ankeny Centennial, which erased a 14-point deifict, got a lucky bounce — and from the looks of it, a lucky no-call.

De Jong had called his play for Phipps, who entered the tournament averaging a team-high 18.3 points per game.

But Ankeny Centennial, which needed to go the full length of the floor, was forced to improvise on the fly after the in-bounds got tipped away and landed in the hands of Bella Robben. Robben then swung a pass to Phipps. Phipps dribbled along the sidelines and tried to stay in-bounds as she fired a pass to Pippett. The pass was tipped to Jaguars' junior Cleao Murray, who quickly fed it back to Pippett.

“I thought Cleao was going to shoot it,” Pippett said. “So, I guess I was kind of surprised that it came to me.”

Class 5A quarterfinals coverage

Video replays showed Phipps may have stepped out of bounds. But the play continued on without a call from officials, and the Jaguars finished off the play and the win with Pippett banking in a shot just before the buzzer.

Players and coaches from the Ankeny Centennial bench sprinted on to the court to celebrate the game-winning basket. Southeast Polk players stood on the floor stunned at how the finial seconds unfolded.

Even Rams coach Tracy Dailey was perplexed by how Phipps was able to stay in bounds.

“I thought they were falling out of bounds and they made a heck of a play, if they weren’t out of bounds,” Dailey said.

It’s a big if.

Southeast Polk led the majority of game. Then in the second half, the Jaguars made their move. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Elle Street and Avery Porter brought the Jaguars to within four of Southeast Polk. The Jaguars then tied it in the fourth quarter on a pair of baskets by Robben.

From there, it was a back-and-forth battle, with Southeast Polk reclaiming the lead four times in the final quarter.

“Once we got it close and tied, then it was going to be back and forth, whoever had the ball last,” De Jong said. “Fortunately, we had it last.”

The come-from-behind victory was not new for the Jaguars, who needed a big rally just to get to Wells Fargo Arena. Ankeny Centennial clawed back from an 18-point deficit to beat Des Moines Roosevelt in its regional final.

“We read that we were a pretender here, that we didn’t deserve our seed. Our schedule has been weak, and the list goes on,” De Jong said. “I think we’re playing with a little chip on our shoulder. I think we do belong.”

They proved that Monday. Pippett finished with 15 points and six rebounds. Robben added nine points. Southeast Polk got 15 points from Grace Larkins and 14 from Brooklin Dailey. The loss was the second-straight first round defeat for the Rams, who finished the season with a 15-4 record.

“It was a tough game,” Tracy Dailey said. “They just came out with the last shot.”

Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018 and 2020 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468. Follow him on Twitter @TommyBirch.