AMES — The Ames girls basketball team had no trouble getting past Marshalltown during an Iowa Alliance North Division game against the Bobcats on Tuesday night.
The Little Cyclones rolled to a 44-6 victory over the Bobcats to earn their fourth victory in five games.
Ames jumped out to a 31-4 halftime lead and coasted to victory. The Little Cyclones had five players score at least six points and they only gave up two field goals all game on defense.
The game provided the perfect sendoff to Ames' four seniors. Here is what we learned from the Little Cyclones' lopsided victory.
Jada Britten hits all the right notes
Ames junior forward Jada Britten is known for her tremendous voice.
Britten often sings the national anthem before Ames basketball games.
"I love it when Jada sings the national anthem," said Ames senior guard Haley Prakashan. "It's the highlight of my day. I can't wait for her to sing it again. It's amazing."
More:Meet Haley Prakashan, the uplifting spirit of the Ames girls basketball team
Britten is involved with the all-state choir and last year she juggled performing in a high school musical with playing basketball.
"Choir is a big thing," Britten said. "Singing has been a part of my life forever, so when I can play the sport I love and sing at the same time...it's a fun experience."
Britten has been in a reserve role off the bench all season. But with guard Sophia Hatcher out with an injury, Britten has seen her time on the court start to increase, and she made the most of it Tuesday.
Britten went for seven points against Marshalltown. All seven points came in the first half when the Little Cyclones built an insurmountable 31-4 lead.
"She's really stepped up big for us," said Ames coach Cole Cook. "She's filled Sophia's shoes the best she can. She doesn't do as much as Sophia defensively. But what she doesn't do defensively, she brings offensively, which has been huge."
Britten said she is thankful for the opportunity to do two things she loves at the same time.
"Honestly, Cook has been super-supportive, and my choir teachers have been super-supportive," Britten said. "Balancing both, last year with the musical and basketball, and this year I was in all-state, so I had to balance coming to some practices and going to some practices for all-state. Really, it's just them cooperating with me. That's really nice."
All that is left for Britten is to spend one evening putting on her own concert, and then playing a game.
"I mean, we'll see!" Britten said.
Sophia Timmermans is all smiles
Tuesday's game began and ended the same way.
With senior reserve player Sophia Timmermans grinning from ear to ear.
To celebrate senior night, Cook started five seniors, including Timmermans. She scored the game's first points on a 3-pointer from the corner and immediately broke into a huge smile.
"I love Sophia's smile," Prakashan said. "It's great."
Timmermans was all smiles again during the final minute of regulation after hitting her second trey of the game to help close out the lopsided victory.
"My teammates supported me from Day 1, so those were for my teammates," Timmermans said. "I couldn't shoot the ball if they didn't get the ball up the court...they just keep me going whenever I get discouraged. So those were for them."
The Ames players were thrilled to see Timmermans reap the rewards for all the effort she has given the team this season and during her career.
"It was amazing to see Sophia make those shots," Prakashan said. "She's been putting in more work than a lot of people in the gym. She's putting up hundreds of 3-pointers when we have open gyms. It's great to see her finally get that on the court."
Cook echoed Prakashan's thoughts.
"There have been times where she sits after practice for 20-30 minutes and shoots extra 3-pointers," Cook said. "It's not like we didn't know she could, it was just finding the right time to put her in and give her that offense. She did a really good job."
Ames girls secure first winning season since 2017
Ames improved to 12-8 overall and 6-1 in the Iowa Alliance Conference North Division following the victory over Marshalltown.
Karsyn Pankonen led Ames with 13 points. Victoria Williams joined Britten in scoring seven points and Anisa Percival matched Timmermans' scoring output with six points.
More:Why Anisa Percival's breakout scoring night bodes well for the Ames girls basketball team
The victory kept Ames in second place in the IAC North standings behind Mason City (6-0). It also secured the program's first winning season since the Little Cyclones went 15-8 in 2016-2017.
Ames wraps up the regular season with games at Ottumwa this Thursday and at Mason City on Saturday. A win over Mason City could give the Little Cyclones a share of the conference title.
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him atjrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at@JoeRandleman
