With a game already under their belt for the young basketball season the Centralia Panthers welcomed the Valley Falls Dragons to town to open the season for the Dragons on the court. By the end of the night it was the Panthers coming out with a pair of wins as the lady Panthers won 55-36 and the Centralia boys won 56-41.

The night started off with girls action and the Valley Falls Dragons put the game early in their favor pushing out to a 9-2 lead, but went cold midway through the first quarter and wouldn't score again until just under six minutes left in the second quarter and got into early foul trouble, giving Centralia the double bonus before the first quarter was over. Centralia down by that 9-2 margin closed out the first quarter on a 12-0 run and lead 14-9 and once taking the lead in the first quarter, never gave it up the rest of the game. The lead grew going into the half with the Panthers leading 32-19 at the half and added to that with a 13-4 third quarter going on to the 55-36 win.

In the loss Valley Falls was led by Callie Watson who finished with 14 points, but had limited minutes due to early foul trouble in the first half, Sydney Gish chipped in six points but no other Dragon score more than four points on the night, sending Valley Falls to 0-1 to start the year. Centralia got great performances by multiple players as Liz Hasenkamp paced the way with 18 points, hitting six three-pointers and Cassidy Haufler anchored the post with 13 points and finished the game with a double-double earning Community National Bank "Player to Bank On" honors on KMZA radio. Amaris Jones and Katie Glatczak each tallied nine points for the Panthers in the win, making them 1-1 on the season, bouncing back from a lost to Valley Heights the night before.

The boy’s matchup was tight early as it was only a three-point game after the first quarter with Centralia on top 14-11, but both teams had their good and bad moments early. Unfortunately turnovers and off shooting nights for multiple Dragons continued for Valley Falls throughout the night, as Centralia's defense was pesky throughout the evening. The Panthers took advantage of their steals and the Dragon turnovers, to lead 23-15 at the half and then continue to push the lead out in the third quarter, but the Dragons did battle back getting the lead back down to nine and eight points multiple times, but not closer down the stretch. Panthers finished off the game at the free throw line going 18-27 from the charity strip as a team and grabbed the 56-41 win.

Centralia with the win improved to 2-0 on the season and was led by Dustin Talley on the night as the junior finished with 17 points, scoring 13 in the second half and earning the Community National Bank "Player to Bank On" honors on KMZA radio. Darrian Turner and John Johnson added double figure nights for the Panthers with 14 and 10 points, respectively, while Wyatt VanDorn chipped in seven points. Valley Falls in the loss was led by Grant Haag who finished with a game-high 19 points and Zac Allen also chipped in 11 points, but the Dragons fell to 0-1 to start the year.

Valley Falls turns their attention to NEKL play on Tuesday as they host Pleasant Ridge, while Centralia will travel to Axtell for Twin Valley League action on Tuesday and that double-header will be featured on 92.1 KMZA.