The Twin Valley League tournament championship games are set at Washington County for Saturday after Thursday the Hanover and Valley Heights boys each picked up thrilling wins while Friday night the Centralia and Valley heights girls advanced.

Our TVL tournament coverage on 92.1 KMZA is proudly sponsored by Farmer’s State Bank in Onaga, Highland Community College, Bank of Highland and Bendena State Bank, , M&R Auto Parts,  Blue Valley Tecnologies, First National Bank of Frankfort, Koch and Company, Wanklyn Oil, State Bank of Bern/Axtell Branch and Elmer’s Repair.

Thursday Boys Semifinal #8 Valley Heights 47, #5 Frankfort 45

In the most thrilling game of the night the Valley Heights boys got a last second bucket from Tyler Wagner to move on to the TVL Championship game as the 8-seed with a 47-45 win over Frankfort.

The game was close throughout with Frankfort holding a 24-23 lead at the half behind 11 points from Garret Dalinghaus.

The Cats pushed that lead to six going into the fourth quarter, but the Mustangs knocked down three 3-pointers and got seven fourth quarter points from Wagner including the game-winner to snag the two-point win.

Wagner led Valley Heights in scoring with 15 points while Kadin Claycamp added 12.

Frankfort finished with three guys in double figures as Dalinghaus led the way with 19 while Gavin Cornelison added 12 and Aiden Gerstner 10.

Thursday Boys Semifinal #7 Hanover 71, #6 Axtell 54

The second semifinal was much closer than the score indicated as Hanover built a lead going into the fourth quarter and shot 12-of-13 in the fourth to move on with a 71-54 win over Axtell.

It was back-and-forth for the entirety of the first half with Hanover leading 13-11 after one and 36-32 at the half with Jacob Jueneman scoring 11 in the first half while Blake Hynek added 10 for the Cats.

Axtell senior Quinn Buessing kept the Eagles in it in the first half with 19 points on five 3-pointers but the Eagles received just nine other points in the first two quarters.

Hanover took control with a 17-11 third quarter and put the game away with an 18-11 fourth with the clutch shooting from the charity stripe.

Jacob Jueneman led Hanover with 22 points while Emmitt Jueneman added 16 and Blake Hynek 13.

Buessing finished with a game-high 32 points for Axtell as the sharpshooter knocked down eight total 3-pointers.

Friday Girls Semifinal #4 Centralia 35, #8 Frankfort 33

In the most thrilling game on the girl’s side the Centralia girls made clutch plays down the stretch when they needed to move on to the championship with a 35-33 victory over Frankfort.

Centralia led throughout including a 6-5 lead after one and 20-12 lead at the half behind 11 first half points from senior Kennedy Becker.

Frankfort was able to pull within five going into the fourth quarter behind six points in the frame from senior Kennen Brandt and held a slim lead in the fourth, but Centralia got a couple late buckets from Becker to seal the win.

Becker finished with 17 points on 3-of-4 shooting to lead the Panthers while Brandt led the Cats with 17 points of her own.

Friday Girls Semifinal #3 Valley Heights 48, #7 Washington County 35

Behind lights out free throw shooting and balanced scoring the Valley Heights girls earned a spot in the TVL Championship game with a 48-35 win over Washington County.

The Mustangs jumped out to an 11-6 lead after one and extended their lead to 13 at the half behind eight first half points from senior Sam Vermetten and another seven from sophomore Maddy Vermetten.

Washington County tried to get back in the game by forcing six third quarter turnovers to pull within nine going into the fourth quarter, but Valley Heights shot 18-of-21 from the free throw line in the game while the Tigers were just 7-of-21 which proved to be the difference.

Valley Heights had two players in double figures as Sam Vermetten led the way with 14 points while Cat Toerber added 10.

Washington County was led by Grace Otott’s nine while Camryn Boykin and Alyssa Kern each added eight.

Saturday’s Games

Girl’s Third Place Game: Frankfort vs. Washington County at 4 p.m.

Boy’s Third Place Game: Axtell vs. Frankfort at 4 p.m.

Girl’s Championship Game: Valley Heights vs. Centralia at 6 p.m.

Boy’s Championship Game: Valley Heights vs. Hanover at 7:30 p.m.