The Nemaha Central boys basketball team faced off against the Royal Valley Panthers for the second time this season. The games were played on Thursday, February 2. The energy at this game was amazing as the fans in the bleachers were awaiting another boys basketball game.
The Thunder 8th grade A-team game started off and the Thunder was a main threat as they scored 8 points and Royal Valley only managed 2 points. When the second quarter came around, the Thunder team was able to increase their score as Royal Valley scored a couple of baskets. The halftime score was 12-6.
Beginning the second half of the game, the Thunder team was still playing well. They were able to add a few more baskets to their score. The third quarter ended with a score of 16-10. Then came the final quarter of the A-team boys game. The Thunder ended with a grand total of 25 points, while Royal Valley only managed 13 points. The Thunder team added another victory to their record.
Starting off the 8th grade B-team, the Thunder could not get their offense going as they fell behind in the first quarter 2-7. In the second quarter, the Thunder picked up the pace scoring 7 points while Royal Valley scored 5 more points to make the score 9-12 at halftime.
The second half was close for the Thunder but they scored a bunch of points to add to their score. The third quarter ended with the Thunder team getting the lead, 23-22. In the fourth quarter, the Thunder scored a few more baskets and when the buzzer went off, the Thunder were victorious, 32-27.
Will Young said, “We played really well and it was a tough matchup, but we pulled through and got the win.”
The 7th grade A-team started off strong offensively and ended the first quarter 9-5. The Thunder team had some very good plays. They played somewhat aggressively in the second quarter and it was a close 17-16 score by halftime.
The Thunder was on their A-game coming out after halftime. The Thunder kept a lead against the Panthers and at the end of the third quarter, the score was 29 to 24. The Thunder team continued to play hard in the fourth quarter and barely walked away with the win, 35-34.
Carter Stallbaumer said, “We lost to them the first time so we had high confidence that we were going to win this one, and when the clock hit zero we won.”
The 7th grade B-team started the game off pretty well and took the lead in the first quarter 7-5. In the second quarter, the B-team boys stayed strong offensively and managed to stay in the lead ending the second quarter 20-8.
The two teams put up a fight in the third quarter but neither team scored much. The quarter ended with the Thunder leading 22-12. In the fourth and final quarter, the Panthers tried to make a comeback but the Thunder held on to get the win, 24-17.
The Thunder team swept the Panthers and they hope to continue this success in future games.
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