After Axtell scored the opening basket of the game, Doniphan West went on a 6-0 run. Axtell answered by tying it up at six points apiece, but Doniphan West would go on an 8-0 run to end the quarter with a 14-6 lead.

Malaina Whetstine went 4-for-5 from beyond the arc in the first half which was good for 14 points. The Mustangs outscored the Eagles 17-7 in the second quarter to give them a 31-13 lead at halftime.

Doniphan West continued to separate from Axtell as they outscored the Eagles 12-3 in the third quarter. Axtell was unable to get their first points until there was 2:14 remaining in the quarter. This gave the Mustangs a 43-16 lead going into the fourth quarter.

The Mustangs coasted in the fourth quarter and won by the same score as their first meeting on December 1st.

Whetstine finished with 16 points after playing sparingly in the second half. She is the Farmers State Bank Player of the Game. Andi Foster finished with 11 points as well. For Axtell, Natalee Strathman led the team in scoring with eight points.

After a 6-2 lead to start the game for Axtell, Doniphan West found their rhythm and went on a 10-0 run to take a 12-6 lead with less than a minute to go in the first quarter. Axtell would score before the period ended, but they would have a multiple-possession deficit going into the second quarter. Michael Albers and Hudson Penny each scored five points.

It was back and forth in the second quarter with Axtell getting their first lead in a while with four minutes left, but Doniphan West would get the lead right back at 20-19 with 3:51 remaining. Brandon Schmelzle almost singlehandedly kept Axtell in the game as he scored nine points in the frame to give the Eagles a 24-23 lead at halftime. For the Mustangs, Kelby Windmeyer scored six points in the quarter.

The third quarter saw both teams continue to go back and forth. Kolter Peterson scored five points in the quarter after getting just two points in the first half. Dustin Veach was lights out from deep as he buried a pair of crucial threes. Windmeyer would score a layup at the buzzer to give Doniphan West a 37-36 going into the fourth quarter.

In the final frame, Axtell’s defense tightened, and the Mustangs ran out of gas. The Eagles outscored the Mustangs 13-5 with Eli Broxterman making a couple of free throws inside the final 20 seconds to go up by three possessions. He finished with 15 points and is your Player of the Game brought to you by Farmers State Bank. Schmelzle also finished with 13 points.

For Doniphan West, Windmeyer led the team with ten points, and Peterson, Albers and Veach all ended up with nine points.