The Axtell Eagles continued the high school basketball season Tuesday night hosting Riley County for a pair of non-league games, and it was the Falcons who came out on top winning the girls game 59-38 and the boys 68-38.

Girls

In the girls game Riley County jumped out to an 18-7 lead in the first quarter thanks to five Axtell turnovers while drilling four 3-pointers.

The Falcons were able to extend their lead to 16 points at halftime hitting three more 3’s, while Axtell was only able to score six points in the quarter.

Axtell did play much better in the second half scoring 13 points in the third quarter and 12 in the fourth, but the deficit was simply too much to overcome.

The Eagles were led by senior Hana Schmitz who finished with a game-high 19 points, going 7 of 12 from the free throw line.

Axtell (0-3) will now take the rest of the week off and won’t play again until December 11 when they host Wetmore.

Axtell: Hana Schmitz – 19, Olivia Kuckelman – 9, Kinsey Feldkamp – 4, Emi Deters – 4, Bree Porting – 2.

Boys

The boys game got off to a much better start for Eagle fans as Axtell jumped out to an 11-6 advantage after the first quarter behind six points from senior Nate Buessing.

Unfortunately for the Eagles it all went downhill from there, as Riley County hit four 3-pointers in the second quarter and outscored Axtell 19-3 in the frame to take a 25-14 lead into halftime.

The onslaught continued into the third quarter, as the Falcons hit four more 3’s in the third and scores 25 points to expand their lead to 25 points heading into the fourth quarter before eventually forcing a running clock.

The biggest number for Axtell on the night was that they turned the basketball over 22 times, while Riley County also knocked down 11 total 3-pointers in the contest.

Axtell (1-2) will now have a break to try to get back on the right track before hosting Wetmore December 11.

Axtell: Nate Buessing – 14, Hunter Koch – 12, Clark Werner – 7, Derek Buessing – 2, JJ Hart – 1.