First place in the Twin Valley League was on the line Friday night in Centralia with the Panthers hosting Valley Heights and in two thrilling games it was a Mustang sweep as the girls won 56-43 while the boys won 49-46 in overtime.

GIRLS

The girl’s game was close early on and for the first half was back-and-forth with Centralia jumping out to a 13-5 lead after one and leading by as many 10 points behind eight points from senior Kennedy Becker.

The Mustangs responded though in a big way outscoring the Panthers 19-13 in the second quarter to pull back within two at the half to trail 26-24 with sophomore Maddy Vermetten scoring seven in the quarter.

Valley Heights continued their run out of halftime outscoring Centralia 16-3 in the third quarter to take a 40-29 lead going into the fourth with sophomore Emma Yungeberg scoring six points in the frame.

The fourth quarter was all Valley Heights again as the Mustangs forced Centralia into eight turnovers with junior Emma Toerber finishing things off with a nine-point fourth quarter.

Toerber led the Mustangs (16-2, 9-1 TVL) with 17 points on the night while Yungeberg added 11.

Centralia (11-8, 7-3) finished with 20 turnovers in the loss led by Kennedy Becker who finished with 14 points.

Valley Heights: Emma Toerber – 17, Emma Yungeberg – 11, Sam Vermetten – 9, Maddy Vertmetten – 7, Cat Toerber – 6, Kennedy Stevenson – 6.

Centralia: Kennedy Becker – 14, Olivia Kuckelman – 9, Morgan Kramer – 8, Avery Deters – 7, Sarah Koch – 5.

BOYS

The boy’s game was one of the best of the year and an absolute battle throughout with neither team leading by more than five points at any point.

Both offenses struggled early on with Centralia taking a 7-3 lead after one behind five points from senior Kamble Haverkamp.

Valley Heights responded with a 14-7 second quarter to pull ahead 17-15 at the break with junior Jackson O’Toole and sophomore Trenton L’Ecuyer combining for nine points in the second quarter.

Centralia came right back and took the lead again going into the fourth quarter 32-27 forcing the Mustangs into five turnovers while sophomores Presley Bowers and Raef Osterhaus combined for eight points in the frame.

In the fourth the Mustangs were able to get the game tied behind a strong fourth from O’Toole and got a missed shot from Centralia’s Haverkamp at the end of regulation to force overtime.

The Mustangs then dominated the overtime period with O’Toole knocking down a big 3-pointer early before hitting two big free throws to grind out the win.

Valley Heights (14-5, 9-1 TVL) shot 17-of-25 from the free throw in the win led by O’Toole’s 16 points while L’Ecuyer added eight and moved into a tie with Centralia for the top spot in the Twin Valley League.

Centralia (11-7, 10-1) suffered their first league loss of the year and were led by Colby Arnold who led the way with 13 points while Haverkamp added nine.

Both teams now have just two games remaining in the regular season with Centralia hosting Blue Valley and Valley Heights hosts Clifton-Clyde with both games on Tuesday.

Valley Heights: Jackson O’Toole – 16, Trenton L’Ecuyer – 8, Cameron Beardsley – 7, Evan Haines – 6, Jake Yungeberg – 6, Kadin Claycamp – 6.

Centralia: Colby Arnold – 13, Kamble Haverkamp – 9, Ian Haverkamp – 7, Presley Bowers – 4, Noah Quigley – 4, Raef Osterhaus – 4, Cooper Deters – 3, Corbin Becker – 2.