Last night, the unranked Axtell Eagle Girls in class 1A D2 took on the #2 ranked team in the Hanover Wildcats classification. The boys' match was between two top dogs, with the #2 ranked Axtell Eagle Boys taking on the #4 Hanover Boys.

Girls - Hanover over Axtell 43-38

The Axtell Eagles jumped out on top early with an 11-8 lead exiting the first quarter. Maggie Strathman had an outstanding quarter for the Lady Eagles with nine points and two rebounds.

The Wildcats would make a 2-3 zone adjustment for the second quarter which would limit the Eagles to just five points total in the second quarter. Hanover would lead at the half 22-16. Anna Jueneman had her best quarter for Hanover in the second with ten points and one board. 

Axtell would respond in the third quarter by out-scoring the Wildcats 12-6 in the third to make it a tied game heading into the fourth 28-28. Both teams also finally hit their first and only threes of the game in the third with one from Axtell’s Katelyn Detweiler and one from Hanover’s Drew Bruna. 

Axtell had yet another game with girls in foul trouble as Regan Hasenkemp and Natalee Strathman would be fouled out for Axtell for the majority of the fourth together. Axtell still found a way to get it into overtime 35-35, despite both leading guards out of the contest. 

In the overtime quarter, Hanover outscored Axtell 8-3, bringing the final score to 43-38. Maggie Strathman was the player of the game, finishing with nineteen points and thirteen rebounds despite the Axtell loss. The Eagles team had thirty-eight points and twenty-six boards; she was truly half of the team statistically. Anna Juenman led Hanover with seventeen points and just two rebounds. 

Boys - Axtell over Hanover 69-57

It wasn’t even two weeks ago that Hanover and Axtell faced off in the TVL Championship with Axtell winning 70-61, and here they managed to do it again. The first quarter started 21-8 in favor of Hanover with five total threes being sliced in the first quarter for the Wildcats. Three of the threes came from Braylon Meyn who would finish the half with fourteen points and four threes total. 

Both teams scored fifteen points in the second quarter to allow Hanover to maintain the lead going into half, 36-23. Eli Broxterman for the Eagles had just hit two threes in the first half, but it would only be the few to come from the all-star senior. 

The third quarter busted wide open for Axtell as they hit four threes in the third, with three coming from Broxterman alone. Eagles would make the thirteen-point comeback and take the lead 47-45 going into the fourth quarter. 

With the only lead change of the game going to Axtell they kept it in the fourth quarter as Axtell would go on to win 69-57. Axtell out-scored Hanover in the second half 45-21 and the Eagles went on to hit an out-standing eight threes on the game while also forcing eighteen turnovers. 

Eli Broxterman and Colin Shaughnessy both won player of the game from their paired twenty-three-point performance a piece to combine for forty-six total points. Broxterman finished the game with six total incredible threes. Hanover would be led by Braylon Meyn with twenty points, two boards, and five steals to finish the game.

Summary

Despite the loss for the Lady Eagles, there is still plenty to improve on as they are just now 7-9 on the season and 1-5 in the TVL. The Lady Wildcats are now 13-2 on the season and 6-1 in the TVL. Axtell Eagle boys are on top of the TVL at 6-0 while also improving to 14-1. Hanover has now dropped to 10-5 overall and 6-1 in the league. Axtell will next face Pawnee City and Hanover will take on Clifton-Clyde.