92.1 KMZA Broadcast - Wetmore at Centralia (girls) - click here to listen 
92.1 KMZA Broadcast - Wetmore at Centralia (boys) - click here to listen 

After opening the season with a non-league contest the Centralia Panthers and Wetmore Cardinals squared off on the basketball court on Tuesday night in Twin Valley League action to continue the early portion of the season. The Panthers by the end of the night each had snagged a win by nearly the same score as the Centralia girls beat Wetmore 61-31 and Panther boys won 63-35. 

Centralia girls jumped out to an 8-0 start over the first 3:20 of the contest and held a 12-6 lead after the first quarter as Madison Lueger tallied six of the teams 12 points in the first frame, while Jill Henry hit a pair of three's for the only points for Wetmore. The lead continued to grow for the Panthers in the second quarter as they went inside to Maegan Koch and Wetmore had no answer and Centralia led 29-16 by halftime, while the Cardinals on top of trailing lost McKayla Henry who went down with in injury in the second period. The Panthers continued to pound the glass and get shots inside in the second half extending their lead by 10 points in the third quarter and ultimately winning 61-31. 

Wetmore struggled from the floor on the night getting all of the 31 points from Dakota McQueen and Jill Henry who scored 18 and 13 points, respectively. Between the two they hit eight three points, four each but the team overall struggled from the floor only making two field goals inside the arc. The loss sends the Cardinals to 1-1 on the year. 

Centralia was led by Koch who had a monster game posting 20 points and was a rebounding machine in the contest earning Community National Bank "Player to Bank On" on KMZA. Lueger and Cassidy Haufler also added double figures on the night with 12 and 10 points, respectively. The win moves the Panthers to 2-0 to start the year and a 26-game win streak dating back to last year. 

The boy's game started off with jabs from each team early with Wetmore snagging an early 5-2 lead but Centralia capitalized on some Cardinal miscues and went inside to use their size to take the lead and go up 19-7 after the first quarter. It was a balanced attack offensively early for Centralia and that trend continued in the second quarter as the Panthers outscored Wetmore 21-12 to lead 40-19 at intermission and went on to gain the victory 63-35 in the contest. 

Centralia in the win moves to 2-0 to start the year and spread the scoring around on the night with 11 different guys recording three points or more led by Levi Koch who posted 11 points and earn Community National Bank "Player to Bank On" honors on KMZA. Alec Duryea added eight points, while Bryson Johnson posted seven points and three other guys tallied six points each. 

Wetmore with the loss falls to 0-2 to start the season and were led by Alex Potter who posted 13 points hitting three three's, while Aaron Achten also connected on three trifecta's and finished with nine points. 

Both teams continue their season on Friday night as Wetmore welcomes Linn to town, while Centralia hits the road and travels to Axtell.