In their regular season finale, the Centralia girls and the Axtell boys were victorious on Tuesday night in Centralia. The Panthers girls’ team won 56-38 and the Axtell boys won 64-60 in overtime.

In the girls’ game, the Eagles got out to a quick 5-0 lead, but Centralia would then respond with a 15-2 run and wouldn’t look back after that.

Centralia sophomore guard Oen Deters got 13 points in the second quarter to help the Panthers go up 24-12 at halftime. The Panthers gave up just five points in the quarter.

The third quarter was low scoring which benefitted Centralia as they were able to hold on to their sizable lead.

In the fourth quarter, Deters made another pair of threes to solidify her already terrific performance to secure the victory.

She finished with 22 points making her the “Player to Bank On” brought to you by Farmers State Bank. Senior Jayden Wells also had 12 points in the win.

Axtell junior guard Kaylee Sandmann led the Eagles with 11 points including eight in the fourth quarter with all her points coming in the second half. Junior forward Chloey Strathman also finished with ten points.

Centralia will host Onaga on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in the quarterfinal round of the Onaga sub-state tournament. That game will be broadcasted on 92.1 FM KMZA. The winner will play against Burlingame in the semifinal round on Thursday, March 2nd in Onaga.

Axtell will be on the road to take on Pike Valley in their quarterfinal sub-state game. It will also be played at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday with the Eagles hosting the tournament.

In the boys’ game, Axtell pounced on Centralia early with a press that the Panthers had no answers for initially. It ended up being a 23-7 lead after the first quarter for the Eagles.

Centralia was able to break their press and get some layups against it, so Axtell backed off a bit. The Panthers would outscore the Eagles 17-14 in the second quarter to give the Eagles a 37-24 at the break.

The turnaround for Centralia wouldn’t come to fruition until the fourth quarter with the Panthers outscoring the Eagles 17-6 to send the game to overtime.

Axtell senior guard Isaac Detweiler made the team’s lone field goal in the extra period, and he also made the game-sealing free throws with 6.3 seconds left. He finished with 14 points and is our “Player to Bank On” brought to you by Farmers State Bank.

Sophomore forward Brandon Schmelzle led the Eagles in scoring with 15 points. Sophomore guard Eli Broxterman added another ten points as well.

For Centralia, it was junior guard and sixth-man Reese Tanking who led the Panthers in scoring with 16. Their season-long leading scorer Trenton Talley scored 15 points in the loss. Senior guard Brock Kramer made some clutch baskets at the end of regulation and finished with ten points.

Axtell gets a bye in the first round of their sub-state tournament and won’t have to play again until March 3rd.

Centralia will host Marais des Cygnes Valley on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. in the quarterfinal round of the Onaga sub-state tournament.