Basketball Game Preview: Valley Tigers vs. Ankeny Hawks

The Valley Tigers will head out to take on the Ankeny Hawks at 7:45 p.m. on Friday. Valley knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past six matches -- so hopefully Ankeny likes a good challenge.

Valley took a loss when they played away from home on Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. They blew past Southeast Polk 63-42.

Meanwhile, Ankeny strolled past Ankeny Centennial with points to spare on Tuesday, taking the game 69-51. Given the Hawks' advantage in MaxPreps' Iowa basketball rankings (they are ranked 113th, while the Jaguars are ranked 241st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

The victory made it two in a row for Ankeny and bumps their season record up to 5-5. As for Valley, they pushed their record up to 5-1 with the win, which was their third straight at home.

Valley was able to grind out a solid victory over Ankeny in their previous matchup back in December of 2024, winning 76-65. The rematch might be a little tougher for Valley since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.