League play continued for Axtell and Hanover on Friday night and both schools went home with a win on the night. The lady Eagles came back from a five-point deficit at halftime to win by five, 55-50, while the Hanover boys were on the ropes early trailing by two at the half but behind a strong second half, picked up the 59-41 win.

Night started off with the Hanover girls raining in five three-pointers in the first half and taking control early in the game but Axtell fought back to trail only by five points at the half 32-27. The Eagles continued to push at Hanover and with 1:14 left to play in the third quarter Axtell took their first lead of the game leading 39-38, that lead quickly went back to Hanover and the Wildcats led by one after three periods. In the fourth the Eagles continued with their smaller lineup to matchup with Hanover and posted a 16-10 fourth to gain the 55-50 win.

Junior, Courtney Heinen paced Axtell with 17 points on the night, scoring 12 of the 17 points in the second half earning her Community National Bank "Player to Bank On" honors on KMZA. Kiersten Talbot also posted double figures with 11 points in the contest, hitting 5-6 free throws as Axtell as a team was 16-23 from the charity stripe. The win push Axtell to 13-3 on the year and 6-2 in TVL action, while Hanover with the loss fell to 5-8 overall and 3-4 in League play. Hanover in the loss had three gal’s in double figures as Paige Doebele posted 15 points, hitting four three-pointers, while Riley Doebele and Ashton Jueneman both notched 12 points.

Axtell boys came out of the gate firing on all cylinders hitting four of their first five three-pointers shot of the game and led Hanover 14-10 after the first quarter. The Wildcats answered with five first half threes of their own, but Axtell got inside in the second quarter and still held the lead going into halftime up 25-23. Coming out of halftime it was all Hanover in the second half as the Wildcats started the second half on an 8-0 run to take the lead and would not give it back to Axtell, holding the Eagles to just 16 second half points, outscoring them 19-6 in the third quarter. Balanced scoring led Hanover to the 59-41 victory.

The win keeps Hanover undefeated on the season now 13-0 and 7-0 in League play as Will Bruna led the way with 11 points, while Trey Loshe and Hunter Nicholson each chipped in nine points apiece. Axtell with the loss fell to 8-7 on the year and 5-3 in TVL action. Andrew Feldkamp continued a recent stretch of double figure games posting 11 points to lead Axtell and earn Community National Bank "Player to Bank On" in the loss.

Both teams have Tuesday off next week and hit the court again next Friday, February 6th as Axtell travels to Onaga and Hanover heads out on the road to Wetmore.