The holiday break is in the rear view mirror and it's back to action on the basketball court and for the Axtell Eagles and Wetmore Cardinals it was a Twin Valley League showdown to get back into the groove of the basketball season. The Eagles at the end of the night flew to a pair of wins over Wetmore as the Axtell girls registered a 52-41 win, while the Eagle boys picked up the 62-26 rout of the Cardinals. 

Slow out of the gate both teams started in the girls’ varsity affair as each team netted a field in the first minute but then went scoreless for the next two minutes in the first quarter. Axtell found offense late in the first with seven first quarter points by Kiersten Talbot and led 12-4 after one quarter. That lead grew on the way to halftime as Axtell carried a 32-16 lead into the half with a 20-12 second quarter. Wetmore started to chip at the Axtell lead in the second half and behind a pair of three's from Jill Henry and free throws from Dakota McQueen cut the Eagles lead to seven in the fourth quarter. Axtell responded with free throws and push the lead back to double figures going on for the 52-41 win. 

Wetmore in the loss was led by McQueen who had a season high 19 points going 10-14 from the free throw line, while Jill Henry added 11 points all in the second half. The loss sends the Cardinals to 1-5 on the season and 0-5 in TVL play. 

Courtney Heinen paced Axtell on the night finishing with 19 points, going 7-8 from the charity stripe, while Talbot chipped in 15 points and Megan Buessing tallied 10 for the Eagles. The duo of Heinen and Talbot with their strong performances earned co-Community National Bank "Player's to Bank On" on KMZA. The lady Eagles with the win improved to 7-2 on the year and 4-1 in TVL play. 

The rust of the holiday break perhaps showed itself early in the boys contest as both teams filled the first quarter with turnovers but Axtell was still able to take a 10-2 advantage into the second quarter. The offense started to come together in the second for the Eagles, while Wetmore still struggled as Axtell outscored the Cardinals 20-8 in the second and led 30-10 at halftime. That lead continued to grow in the second half as Axtell posted a 25-4 third quarter and went on to grab the 62-26 win. 

Wetmore with the loss fall to 0-7 on the season and 0-5 in TVL action and were led by Dakota McKinney who scored eight points. 

Axtell Eagles had a trio of guys finish with double digits as Colton Buessing led the team with 19 points, connecting on six three-pointers, while Mitchell Kuckelman and Kaleb Buessing each scored 13 points. Colton and Kuckelman earned co-Community National Bank "Player's to Bank On" honors on KMZA in the Eagle win as Axtell improved to 4-5 overall and 3-2 in the TVL. 

Both teams are back in action on Friday night as Wetmore travels to Linn for a League matchup and Axtell hits the road traveling to Frankfort for League action. (The Axtell at Frankfort games will be featured on 92.1 KMZA on Friday night)