The final week of the 2019 portion of the high school basketball season got underway Tuesday night for area teams and in Wetmore it was a split between the Cardinal girls and Axtell boys.

Girls: Wetmore 33, Axtell 20

In the girl’s game it wasn’t pretty, but the Wetmore Cardinals overcame 24 turnovers and knocked out enough shots to come away with a 33-20 victory.

The Cardinals got out to an 11-8 lead after one quarter off two 3-pointers from junior Alyssa Bloom and two baskets from sophomore Kenzie Strathman.

Wetmore extended their lead to 11 points at halftime outscoring the Eagles 8-0 in the second behind six more points from Strathman.

Following a 10-4 third quarter the Cardinals extended their lead to 17 points heading into the fourth and despite a late rally from Axtell, Wetmore held on to preserve the victory.

The Cardinals finished just 8-of-18 from the free throw line but forced Axtell into 20 turnovers of their own and got 15 points from Bloom and 14 points from Strathman.

Wetmore improves to 3-2 with the win and will travel to Clifton-Clyde on Friday while Axtell (0-4) will host Linn before the holiday break.

Wetmore: Alyssa Bloom – 15, Kenzie Strathman – 14, Reagan Osterhaus – 2, Campbell Brown – 2.

Axtell: Bree Porting – 5, Kori Schmelzle – 5, Halie Schmitz – 4, Kinsey Feldkamp – 3, Aspen Buessing – 2.

Boys: Axtell 66, Wetmore 39

From start to finish the Axtell boys picked up their first win of the season with a dominant 66-39 win over Wetmore on Tuesday night.

The Eagles started fast and never looked back jumping out to a 16-2 lead after the first quarter behind eight Wetmore turnovers and six points from senior Quinn Buessing.

Wetmore started to make a comeback and got within 10 points right before halftime thanks to five second quarter points from sophomore Eric Bloom and four more from fellow sophomore Braden Henry.

In the third quarter the Eagles flexed their muscles and took control of the game with a 22-13 quarter to lead 46-27 going into the fourth before Buessing put the game completely out of reach with an 8-point fourth.

Buessing finished with 19 points in the win while as a team the Eagles forced 19 Wetmore turnovers which led to several transition baskets.

The Cardinals hurt themselves as well from the free throw line finishing just 4-of-14, but they did get a big night from Henry who racked up 16 points on a 3-of-5 effort from the stripe.

The win was the first for Axtell (1-3) who will host Linn on Friday night to wrap up 2019 while Wetmore (2-3) will wrap up the year by traveling to Clifton-Clyde.

Axtell: Quinn Buessing – 19, Derek Buessing – 13, Isaac Detweiler – 9, George Volle – 8, Mitch Buessing – 5, J.J. Hart – 4, Kolby Talbot – 4, Clark Werner – 2, Owen Strathman – 2.

Wetmore: Braden Henry – 16, Kael McQueen – 9, Eric Bloom – 8, Kevin Shumaker – 2, Colby Hanzlicek – 2, John Lamberson – 2.