Axtell entered last night with back-to-back TVL Champion hardware from the previous two seasonsCoincidentally, last year, they also faced Hanover, which they won 48-34, this year was the same result resulted in a win, just with higher-flying offenses. 

Boys First Place Match - Axtell over Hanover 70-61

The first quarter was an extremely strong start for the Axtell Eagles as they led 25-10 coming out of the first quarter. Brandon Schmelzle got on the board with six in the quarter for the Eagles, Colin Shaughnessy had five points, Eli Broxterman had six points off two threes, and Logan Sandman was all inside the paint with six points and two boards. 

Hanover crawled back in from what was at one point a twenty-one-point deficit in the second quarter to bring it to within nine before the half’s end, 35-26. Braylon Meyn had his best quarter of the night for the Wildcats as he scored seven points in the quarter and went three-of-three from the free-throw line. Landon Schmitz had his best scoring quarter of the night for Axtell to respond with six points in the quarter and an incredible scoop-and-score off a steal. 

The second half was a balanced one for both teams with big runs and spurts for both sides. Both teams scored thirty-five points in the second half to reach the final score of 70-61, the Axtell Eagles taking yet another victory. Colin Shaughnessy shot lights out in the second half with ten points and two threes while Logan Sandman continued his interior production with nine points and six boards.

Axtell finished the night hitting five threes and making nine from the free-throw line. Logan Sandman finished with a possible double-double but definitely had fifteen points on the board for Axtell. Leading the scoring for Axtell was Schmelzle with sixteen points all from the dribble and drive. Shaughnessy put up three total threes and fifteen points, and Landon Schmitz had one of his best games this season with ten points, two boards, a steal, and multiple assists. Tanner Bruna Led the scoring for Hanover with twenty-one as he fouled out late in the fourth quarter (ALL STATS NOT APPROXIMATE). 

Summary

Hanover now drops to 7-4 and has lost six straight match-ups to Axtell. Axtell Boys improved to 9-1 as they have now won three straight TVL Championships. Axtell will now continue their traveling as up next they will face Doniphan West on the road this Tuesday.

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