When you get this late in the season, coaches, players and fans are all curious to see where a team is beyond the nightly grind of TVL play. For the Centralia girls, that test came on Monday against Riverside. And if this game proves to be that judge, the Lady Panthers are going to be just fine come this postseason. Riverside kept it close through the first period as Centralia went to the first quarter break up 15-10. It was the 2nd quarter where Josie Haverkamp made her sa

Occasionally, the question arises of whether teams at higher classifications have more ability when it comes to game day. On Tuesday, the Valley Heights girls had the opportunity to settle that debate taking on Clay Center and boy did they. The Lady Mustangs more than doubled up Clay Center in a 55-27 victory in one of the more complete team efforts of the season. Nine girls would register points in this ball game led by Paige Miller's 17-point game. Mia Vermetten would join

There are just some things in the TVL that we have come accustomed to. So, when Centralia and Hanover met up on Friday, I don't know if there was any fan that was in awe to hear that the two teams had gone to overtime. Hanover led for the largest portion of the 1st half with 8 point edge at the halftime break. Something happened in the halftime locker room for both teams as both came out with a brand-new pep we really hadn't seen early. First it was Hanover, who pushed their

In another premiere match up on Friday we saw the Hanover Wildcats taking on Centralia. For the majority of this game, Centralia would give Hanover trouble staying in single digits. The Panthers were led by 14 points from Quinton Alderfer with Aiden Talley adding 10 as well. Hanover proved why they are one of the top teams in the state though with a 24 point effort from Braylon Meyn. At this point, Meyn has to be considered one of the best players in the state with the way h

The 2 seed Linn Lady Bulldogs opened up TVL tournament play taking on the 7 seed Clifton-Clyde who had defeated Washington County by 30 points to advance to this. Only a 3 point lead for Linn at halftime, up 25-22. Both teams knew this game was not even close to over. It was Izzy Rogge leading scoring for the Lady Bulldogs with 8 with Sevy at 12 for Clifton-Clyde. It was the 3rd quarter where both teams erupted Baileigh Peters netted 13 of her team high 21 right after the ha

Early on, Hanover did a great job of controlling the pace and held the lead 22-20 at the break as Einslee Stallbaumer finished with 8 points in the first half, Stallbaumer was the leading scorer for Hanover in this game earning 20. After half, Blue Valley found a spark and a big one at half as Brynlyn Brockman went off. After having a solid 8 points in the first two periods Brockman dropped twice that in the second half with 17 as she was able to get to the basket seemingly e

Sometimes when you hear the term balanced scoring effort in sports, it's a nice way of saying that no player really took control and you see multiple 3 and 4 point efforts. For the Axtell Lady Eagles, a balanced effort including not 1 but 3 athletes with 15 points or more as Axtell advanced to the next round with a 49-34 victory over Onaga. Maggie Strathman ended the game with 8 of her 15 points in the 4th quarter and 11 total in the 2nd half as she used the size mismatch to

Time of possession is usually not a statistic a basketball team looks at. For the Blue Valley Rams it was in fact, what they would do when the clock wasn't moving that made the biggest difference in a 62-39 win. The Ram boys shot 17 free throws making 13 and Senior Hayes Hall had half of his points at the line. A 17-11 lead at the end of the first as Valley Heights' pair of three pointers kept the contest close, a common theme throughout the night. Unfortunately, Valley Heig

In a game that many had circled as the first day's toss up in the girls, Frankfort and Blue Valley didn't disappoint with player after player taking a huge part in swinging the game back and forth. After going to the 1st quarter break, the game was knotted at 8 as Macey Wapp provided the spark for Frankfort with a pair of 3 pointers on her way to 10 points for the Senior. Frankfort was able to get to the line six times in the first half, making just three. But Blue Valley

In the Twin Valley League tournament, there are always a handful of games fans will talk about for years. This year's tournament didn't waste time providing one of those games as the Frankfort boys took on the home squad Washington County in the boys 8 vs. 9 matchup. The Wildcats came at Washington County with the usual suspects early on and why not? The combination of Fred Rosquist, Peyton Adams, Wes Anderson and Porter Colvin is one of the most dominant groupings in the ar

On their home court, the Washington County girls were given a tough task right out of the gates in this year's TVL Tournament. Trying to control one of the top players in the league and slowing down the offense from Clifton-Clyde that on any given night can have many players step up and be a solid contributor. Early on it was apparent that the Lady Eagles were trying to find that help for Wurtz as three additional made the score books in the first period, led by Calyn Baker'

The Centralia Panthers entered this year's Twin Valley League tournament knowing they had the opportunity to make some waves if they could get off on the right foot against their opening round opponent, Onaga. The Panthers opened the game on a 15-0 run and ultimately pushed it to a 16-point lead at the end of the first quarter thanks to a strong first quarter defensively with many stolen passes and deflections. Once the second quarter it was Junior Quentin Alderfer who took

Fireworks are going off all over the TVL with athletes coming up with incredible performances leading their team to victories here in the early part of January. This past Friday, Sevy Wurtz of the Clifton-Clyde Eagles notched a double double with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Sevy is no stranger to putting up a great stat as she nears 1500 career points, which by the time you read this may have already been toppled. Sevy wasn't the only one to pilot her team to a big win this

Early season tests for some of the Twin Valley League teams, while very beneficial in the long term, caused a bit of a change in this week's polls. The Centralia boys fall from number 5 out of this week's poll with a pair of 20-point losses to St. Marys and Silver Lake. The Panthers were able to hang with both teams early and final scores aren't necessarily indicative of what this team have to offer. Once the Panthers get into TVL play, they will have a better chance to wow s

The new Kansas Basketball Coaches (KBCA) polls were released on Tuesday with many ups and downs. In 2A, Valley Heights fell to Riley County by 9 to drop the Lady Mustangs just one spot after picking up a win against league foe Axtell 41-37. Valley Heights has an opportunity to earn statement wins with games against Nemaha Central and Centralia scheduled this week. Meanwhile, Doniphan West went 2-0 last week with a win in the final seconds against Riverside 51-50 and an abso

For the Axtell boys basketball team, getting off to a hot start in the 2025 basketball season was certainly a top priority and after a pair of big wins last week, they have gotten off to a great start. The Eagles' season began in a runaway against the Valley Heights Mustangs with Axtell taking a 70-26 decision. Colin Shaughnessy led the way with 25 points including 3 three pointers. Unsurprisingly, the Axtell Senior looks like he will be a constant spark for his team. Joinin

As the 2025-26 season started, the defending 1A D-2 champions Hanover picked up right where they left off with pure domination. The Lady Cats started their season with a win against Troy behind a pair of 14 point efforts from Drew Bruna and Trinity Schlabach including a 4 of 5 night at the free throw line from Bruna. Meanwhile Einslee Stallbaumer caught fire from behind the arc with 9 of her 11 points coming from deep. Nora Heiman notched 4 points including 2 at the free th

In the early goings of the 2025-26 season, sometimes no news is good news and for the teams of the Twin Valley League the placings in the KBCA polls remained the same as week 1. In 1A D-I, Frankfort went north of the border and took care of business against both Lourdes Catholic and Pawnee City(NE) defeating the latter by 17 but having to earn a 52-50 win against Lourdes. The Wildcats remain in the 7 spot this week. For Centralia, their opening matchup woudl be against peren

Now with a few games under their belt, the early season rankings took some big ups and downs for some of the teams but the cream of the crop still remains in Northeast Kansas. In 2A, the Doniphan West girls took a loss to Hiawatha to open their season. D-West responded with a 43-39 over MHMA, and went from number 4 in last week's poll to number 8 this week. Elsewhere, Valley Heights after a 17-point win over Marysville appear just ahead of D-West at number 7. In 1A D-2, Cent

Axtell 48 Washington County 0 (ended at half) Hanover 56 Clifton-Clyde 6 ended in 3rd Valley Heights 28 Onaga 8 Mid Buchanan 49 Centralia...