Linn and Centralia split their games on Friday night in Centralia with the Bulldogs winning the girls’ game 48-47 in a thriller, and the Panthers boys’ team winning 44-34 in the night capper.

In the girls’ game, Linn got out to a good start with sophomore forward Marcela Huerta scoring seven in the first quarter to go up 15-8.

Linn was able to expand their lead to 11 at the half with senior forward Claire Beikmann scoring eight points before the break.

In the third quarter, the Panthers were able to execute their offense more effectively with sophomore guard Oen Deters scoring 13 points in the quarter to trim the deficit to four going into the fourth quarter.

Deters stayed hot as she scored ten more points in the final frame. Centralia took the lead and got up by as much as three, but Linn would go on a run to retake the lead.

With the game tied 46-46, Beikmann made the game-winning basket which was a shot from straight away about six feet away from the basket with 7.5 seconds remaining.

Deters was asked to shoot the final shot but couldn’t get her three ball to drop at the buzzer.

Beikmann finished with 16 points and is the Farmers State Bank “Player to Bank On”. Huerta finished with 11 points after fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Senior guard Sophia Bott drained a big three-pointer in the fourth quarter and finished with ten.

Deters scored 27 points with 23 coming in the second half. Senior guard Lena Haverkamp finished with 11 points with seven coming from the free-throw line.

The Centralia boys’ team entered this matchup as the #2 team in Class 1A-D1, but Linn wouldn’t go away despite having no wins in Twin Valley League play this year and going winless in league play a year ago.

Centralia got out to an early lead and shut out the Bulldogs in the first quarter 9-0. Senior guard Trenton Talley put up nine points in the second quarter and it looked like the rout was on as Centralia went up 14 points at the break.

However, Centralia was unable to pull away with both offenses struggling in the contest. Linn’s offense was just good enough to hang around for a bit, but the Panthers were able to get the win.

Talley led the team in scoring with 19 points and is the “Player to Bank On” brought to you by Farmers State Bank.

Linn had a pair of players score double digits with senior forward Gavin Turk leading with 11 and junior guard Anthony Ayala one point behind him with ten.