Entering tonight the Centralia Panthers had not taken a loss to an opponent in their classification or smaller while the Axtell Eagles come in with the #2 ranking in all of class 1A D2. The Axtell Eagles had won three straight against Centralia and tonight they extended the winning streak to four with a big semifinal win to move on back to the TVL championship. 

Boys - Axtell over Centralia 46-31

The Eagles came out of the gate shooting, swinging, nailing, flying, soaring, whatever you want to name it, name it because the first quarter ended 16-2 with Axtell dominating every aspect of the game. Axtell hit two threes in the first quarter with Wyatt Detweiler and Colin Shaughnessy hoping in on the board while Brandon Schmelzle added four on the board for himself. But of course, the more impressive mark on the quarter was holding the Panthers to just two points and forcing seven turnovers in the first. Duke Timmel was the lone scorer in the first quarter for Centralia. 

Axtell would go on to score fourteen points in the second quarter and hold the Panthers to just four points in the quarter. The Eagles led into a 30-6 half. Eli Broxterman hit two massive threes in the quarter for Axtell while Brandon Schmelzle had the best play of the quarter with a crowd-roaring dunk. 

The Panthers bounced back for the third quarter and out-scored the Eagles in the third 17-12 and slowly started to get themselves back into the game. Centralia had four different players get on the board in the third quarter compared to just the only team they had in the entire first half. Alderfer had his only scoring quarter in the third with seven points and a three-point shot. 

The Eagles managed to hold out to the final whistle with the score 46-31, with Centralia getting as close to just thirteen points down in the quarter. Centralia out-scored Axtell 25-16 in the last two quarters combined but unfortunately, the late start had just set them too far back to truly have a shot of getting back into the game. Duke Timmel did have an incredible fourth scoring eight points, capturing three boards, and even going four of four from the free-throw line. 

Eli Broxterman finished with fourteen points in the game with four total threes made. Brandon Schmelzle finished with eight points and nine rebounds, and Logan Sandman completed the game with eight points and seven rebounds himself. Colin Shaughnessy and Wyatt Detweiler both ended with seven for Axtell as well. Centralia found their leading scorer again in Duke Timmel for a second game in a row, this time with twelve points and eight rebounds (STATS NOT APPROXIMATE). 

Centralia had over twenty turnovers in the game while the Eagles had under fifteen. Both teams finished with a little over twenty rebounds but the main starlight stat came from Axtell ending the game with six threes and Centralia only hitting one. 

Summary

Axtell will move on and play Hanover for the second straight year in a row for the TVL Championship. Last season Axtell won 48-34 over Hanover. Centralia will play Clifton-Clyde for the TVL third-place match as well for the second straight year. Last season Clifton-Clyde won 45-42. 

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