It was a tough Twin Valley League battle on the court on Tuesday night as the Axtell Eagles traveled to Centralia to take on the Panthers and both games proved to be tight contests with the Panthers ultimately grabbing the wins in both matchups. Lady Panthers notched a 53-49 win, while the boys won in overtime 54-52 giving both Centralia teams their first wins of the season.

In the girls competition both teams started off sluggish as it was only 9-7 after the first quarter with Centralia on top by two but Axtell responded in the second quarter with a 16-8 quarter to take a 23-17 lead into the locker room at the half. Sophomores, Bradie Schmitz and Megan Buessing had big second quarter each for the Eagles as Schmitz scored seven of her nine in the quarter and Buessing added six in the quarter of her eight on the night.

Coming out of the half the Panthers went on a run and outscored Axtell by 10 in the third quarter 21-11, taking a four point lead into the final frame of the game lead by a huge third quarter from junior, Liz Hasenkamp who tallied 10 of her 12 in the third period. That four point margin proved to be enough for Centralia to earn the 53-49 win.

Leading the charge all night was senior, Kaitlyn Koch has she poured in 23 points, scoring at least three points in every quarter on the night to earn "Community National Bank" Player to Bank On honors on the KMZA broadcast. Along with Koch and Hasenkamp, freshman Cassidy Haufler tallied double figures for the second straight game posting 10 points.

Axtell in the loss was led by sophomore, Courtney Heinen who tallied 16 points, while Schmitz and Kiersten Talbot each had nine points.

After a tight ballgame in the girl’s competition the boys wouldn't be out done as the game needed overtime to decide a winner. The Axtell Eagles established the post early with Payton Heinen as he tallied 11 of his 17 points in the first half and finished the night with a double-double by snatching up 14 rebounds. Heinen solid first half along with his teammates gave Centralia a two-point lead 24-22 at the half.

That two-point lead was pushed to four after three frames as Axtell lead 33-29 and continued to lead throughout the fourth quarter until Centralia took a late lead then Axtell pushed ahead with some free throws back to a three point ballgame with Centralia having possession and Trevor Mars hit a game-tying three-pointer to tie the game at 48-48 and force overtime.

In overtime Centralia outscored Axtell by two to notch the 54-52 victory and took it away from the Axtell Eagles.

Senior, Sam Steinlage lead the Panthers with 14 points, going 10-12 from the free throw line, while Cody Huerter chipped in 12 points and earned "Community National Bank" Player to Bank On honors on KMZA for his performance.

In the loss Axtell was led by Heinen, while Christian Buessing chipped in 10 points also on the evening.

With the wins both Panther teams move to 1-1 on the season and both Axtell squads move to 1-2 on the year as they turn their attention to action on Friday. For Centralia they travel to Valley Falls and for Axtell they play host Linn on Friday and then Bishop Seabury on Saturday.