The 2018 Twin Valley League tournament got underway on Saturday in Onaga and there was plenty of action on the hardwood with 10 first round contests. Saturday's action is recapped below.

TVL Tournament brackets --- girls bracket     boys bracket 

Listen back to 1st round games - Onaga vs. Clifton-Clyde (girls) (click here to listen)
   Troy vs. Doniphan West (girls) (click here to listen)
   Troy vs. Centralia (boys) (click here to listen)
   Frankfort vs. Valley Heights (boys) (click here to listen)
   Onaga vs. Wetmore (boys) (click here to listen)

Special thanks to our special TVL Tournament sponsors on 92.1 KMZA -- Bank of Highland - Bendena State Bank, Blue Valley Telecommunications, The State Bank of Bern - Axtell Branch,  Nemaha County Co-op, First National Bank of Frankfort, M&R Auto Parts, F&L Construction, Doug Heiman-Shelter Insurance, Farmer's State Bank - Onaga, Westmoreland & Manhattan and Koch & Company

Girls 

#9 Axtell vs. #8 Washington County -- Axtell won 62-61

The 8 versus 9 matchup always expects to be one of the competitive first round games in the TVL Tournament and while it was close down the stretch it looked like a runaway game early. Axtell Eagles built a big lead only to hold on for the 62-61 win. Eagles flew out of the gate going up 22-8 after just the first quarter lead by an eight point first quarter by Trisha Mathewson. Headed into halftime Axtell led 37-26 over Washington County and the Tigers continued to chipped away ultimately making it a one-point game in the end with the Eagles holding on for their third straight win and fourth in last five games.

Axtell was led by Mathewson who score 17 points, while Hanna Schmitz tallied 11 points and Kinsey Feldkamp netted 11 points. The win moves Axtell to 4-5 on the season and into the Quarterfinals to face #1 seed Frankfort on Monday. The loss moves Washington County 4-6 on the year and moves them into the consolation games. Grace Otott with 17 points led Washington County in the loss, while Holly Delay scored 11 points and Aundrea Bruna scored 10 points. 

#13 Onaga vs. #4 Clifton-Clyde -- Clifton-Clyde won 49-23

Clifton-Clyde jumped out to a 9-0 lead against Onaga and led 11-2 at the end of the first quarter using that start to propel them to a 49-23 win. The Eagles led 19-8 at the half and used a 16-8 third quarter to continue expand their lead finishing the game with a 14-7 fourth quarter. In the win Clifton-Clyde was led by Jaysie Bowser and Emily Coffman who each scored 13 points. Coffman posted 10 of her 13 in the second half and earned Community National Bank "Player to Bank On" honors on 92.1 KMZA. The win improves the Eagles to 8-3 and moves them into the Quarterfinals to face #5 seed Valley Heights on Monday.  

Onaga with the loss fell to 0-9 on the year and fell into the consolation games. Belinda Ames led Onaga with six points. 

#12 Linn vs. #5 Valley Heights -- Valley Heights won 66-32

Riding two-game winning entering the TVL Tournament Valley Heights continued their strong play taking down Linn in the first round 66-32. The Mustangs galloped out to a 12-4 lead after just the first quarter and led 28-12 at the half. Looking to finish off the game Valley Heights controlled the fourth quarter outscoring Linn 23-5 in the final frame to cruise to the win. 

The win improves Valley Heights to 6-3 on the year and moves them into the Quarterfinals to take on #4 seed Clifton-Clyde on Monday. Kayla Smith with 25 points led Valley Heights, while Emma Toerber scored 12 points and Sam Vermetten chipped in 11 points. The loss moves Linn to 0-8 on the season and into the consolation games. Shelby Ohlde led Linn with 17 points. 

#11 Troy vs. #6 Doniphan West -- Doniphan West won 59-34

Doniphan West used a strong second quarter to push themselves to into the Quarterfinals with a 59-34 win over Troy. The Mustangs ran out to a 10-0 lead the first quarter but Troy finished the first quarter with a 10-3 run as Macy Norris hit a buzzer-beating three to make it 13-10 Doniphan West after one. The Mustangs took advantage of their opportunities in the second quarter outscoring Troy 27-5 in the frame and used that to earn the win. 

The Mustangs were led by Shayna Wilson who posted 16 points earning Community National Bank "Player to Bank On" honors on 92.1 KMZA. Makinley Smith added 11 points in the win, while Brooklyn Rush scored nine. The win moved Doniphan West to 5-4 on the year and into the Quarterfinals to play #3 seed Hanover on Monday. The loss sends Troy to 0-7 on the season and into the consolation games. Macy Norris led Troy in the loss with 11 points. 

#10 Blue Valley vs. #7 Wetmore -- Blue Valley won 58-44

Blue Valley led only 13-11 after one quarter against Wetmore but the 10 seed put together an 18-10 second quarter to add to their lead and then a 15-4 third quarter to upset the Cardinals 58-44. Brooklyn Zoeller led the Rams with 29 points including going 19-25 from the free throw line in a game that featured 69 combined free throw opportunities. Blue Valley with the win improved to 4-5 and move into the Quarterfinals to play #2 seed Centralia on Monday. Sami Pfaff added 10 points for the Rams in the win. 

Wetmore in the loss was led by Jill Henry who scored 20 points going 15-18 from the free throw, the Cardinals fell to 4-5 on the year and into the consolation games at the Tournament. 

Games on Monday (Girls):

#5 Valley Heights vs. #4 Clifton-Clyde 3:15pm
#6 Doniphan West vs. #3 Hanover 3:15pm (on 92.1 KMZA)
#9 Axtell vs. #1 Frankfort 6:15pm (on 92.1 KMZA)
#10 Blue Valley vs. #2 Centralia 6:15pm 

(Semifinals on Thursday Jan. 18th; Championship and other games Saturday Jan. 20th)

Consolation Games (Girls)

Tuesday (Jan. 16th)

#13 Onaga vs. #8 Washington County 5:30pm 
#11 Troy vs. #7 Wetmore 5:30pm

Thursday (Jan. 18th)

#13 Onaga vs. #12 Linn 4:30pm

Saturday (Jan. 20th)

#8 Washington County vs. #7 Wetmore 10:00am 
#12 Linn vs. #11 Troy 10:00am

Boys

#9 Blue Valley vs. #8 Axtell --- Axtell won 72-50

Points can early and often from both Axtell and Blue Valley as it was 22-21 after one quarter with the Eagles holding a slim lead. The Eagles continued to score putting together a 21-5 second quarter and went on to win 72-50. The Eagles were led by Hunter Koch who talleid 19 points, while Jonah Porting who scored 16 points as Axtell improved to 3-6 moving into the Quarterfinals on Monday to play #1 seed Doniphan West. 

Blue Valley in the loss fell to 2-8 on the season and into the consolation games. The Rams were led in the loss by Lane Peter who scored 16 points. 

#13 Troy vs. #4 Centralia -- Centralia won 64-35

Centralia pounced early on Troy and used a strong start to earn the win 64-35 win in the first round of the TVL Tournament. The Panthers got up 13-0 in the first 1:30 of the contest and led 27-7 at the end of the first quarter with Nathan Rempe leading the charge scoring eight of the team first 13 points of the game. The lead grew to 43-13 by halftime as Centralia posted a 16-6 second quarter and went on to add to the led with a 15-8 third and push themselves to the win. 

Daegan Steinlage led Centralia with 18 points earning Community National Bank "Player to Bank" honors on 92.1 KMZA, while Rempe scored 13 points and Trenton Flentie added 10 points. The win moves Centralia to 7-3 on the year and into the Quarterfinals to face #12 seed Washington County on Monday. The loss for Troy moves to them to 0-7 on the year, while Bray Davies and Reid Jasper led the Trojans in the loss with 11 points each. 

#12 Washington County vs. #5 Linn -- Washington County won 45-43 

The highest seed to gain a win in the first round of the TVL Tournament was the Washington County boys to took down Linn in a tight 45-43 decision. Linn led 18-7 after the first quarter but Washington County responded in a big way with a 21-9 second quarter to lead 28-27 at the half. The game remained tight the rest of the way and Linn had an opportunity to win the contest but missed a three-pointer at the buzzer falling by two-points. 

The win moved Washington County to 2-8 and into the Quarterfinals on Monday to play #4 seed Centralia, as Wyatt Bentz led the Tigers with 11 points. Linn was led by Tanner Spence who scored 13 points, while Evan Bott tallied 10 points as Linn fell to 4-4 and into the consolation games. 

#11 Frankfort vs. #6 Valley Heights -- Valley Heights won 53-51

Valley Heights down by double figures early came back to earn the win over Frankfort 53-51 avenging an early season loss. Frankfort led the 13-8 lead after the first quarter and pushed that lead to double figures at 18-8 in the second quarter and went into halftime up 29-21. A 6-0 run by the Mustangs drew them to within two at 29-27 early in the third quarter but Frankfort pushed the lead back only to see Valley Heights end the third strong and tie the game at 37-37. The lead swung quickly to Valley Heights in the fourth and grew to as high as 11 but Frankfort didn't go away battling back and tying the game on a Gavin Cornelison three-pointer knotting the game at 51-51. A foul with three seconds left gave Alex Hardin free throw opportunities for Valley Heights and he sunk both and a three a the buzzer by Frankfort came up short and Valley Heights took the win. 

Jeremy Reed led Valley Heights with 18 points, while Tyler Wagner scored 12 points as the Mustangs moved to 4-5 on the year and into the Quarterfinals to play #3 seed Clifton-Clyde on Monday. Reed earned Community National Bank "Player to Bank On" honors on 92.1 KMZA. The loss moves Frankfort to 2-9 on the year and into the consolation games. Frankfort was led by Garret Dalinghaus led the Wildcats with 17 points, while Brandon Anderson scored 13 points. 

#10 Onaga vs. #7 Wetmore -- Wetmore won 58-31

Having just played a few ago prior to the tournament Wetmore and Onaga did battle again this time in the TVL Tournament first round and just the first time this season it was the Cardinals earning the win this time 58-31. Wetmore led just 14-10 after the first but put together a 18-8 second quarter led by a nine point second from Joel Hutfles on three three-pointers helping Wetmore lead 32-18 at the half. Wetmore grew the led behind a 16-9 third quarter and finished the game with a 10-4 fourth to earn the win. 

The is the third in a row for Wetmore improving them to 4-5 on the year and pushing them into the Quarterfinals to take on #2 seed Hanover on Monday. Hutfles once again led the Cardinals scoring a season best 28 points earning him Community National Bank "Player to Bank" honors on 92.1 KMZA. Ethan Osterhaus chipped another double figure showing scoring 13 points for Wetmore. 

Onaga with the loss falls to 2-8 on the year and into the consolation games. Tanner Marten led the Buffaloes with 15 points. 

Games on Wednesday (Boys):

#6 Valley Heights vs. #3 Clifton-Clyde 4:45pm (on 92.1 KMZA)
#12 Washington County vs. #4 Centralia 4:45pm 
#8 Axtell vs. #1 Doniphan West 7:45pm (on 92.1 KMZA)
#7 Wetmore vs. #2 Hanover 7:45pm 

(Semifinals on Friday Jan. 20th; Championship and other games Saturday Jan. 21st)

Consolation Games (Boys)

Tuesday (Jan. 16th)

#13 Troy vs. #9 Blue Valley 7:00pm 
#11 Frankfort vs. #10 Onaga 7:00pm

Friday (Jan. 20th)

#13 Troy vs. #5 Linn 4:30pm

Saturday (Jan. 21st)

#10 Onaga vs. #9 Blue Valley 11:30am 
#11 Frankfort vs. #5 Linn 11:30am