The Nemaha Central basketball girls competed in their first tournament on Saturday, November 9, 2024. Sabetha hosted the tournament, which took place in their high school. The other teams that attended were SPPS, Marysville, and Sabetha.
The tournament's first game was the seventh grade from NC against SPPS. Lillian Deters started the game with a tip-off. NC gained a lead of 4 points by the end of the first quarter while holding the Trojans scoreless. By halftime, SPPS had scored some baskets to tie the score at 6-6.
The third quarter was low scoring and the game remained tied 8-8. During the fourth quarter, NC outscored SPPS to get the win 15-10.
“We did good and won against a strong opponent,” said Nikki Lambrecht, seventh grade.
After their victory over SPPS, the NC seventh graders took on the Marysville Bulldogs. The girls fought hard and the game was tied 7-7 at the end of the first quarter. NC went scoreless in the second quarter while Marysville took the lead 7-13.
In the third quarter, Marysville increased their lead by a few points, 9-18. NC scored 5 points and Marysville scored 6 in the final quarter to end the game with Marysville winning 14-24.
The eighth grade team from NC took on SPPS, with Alyssa Griffith fighting for tip-off. In the first quarter, SPPS took the lead 2-6. SPPS pumped up the score in the second quarter to take a 2-16 lead by halftime.
SPPS scored 4 more points in the third quarter, while NC only scored 2. The third quarter finished with a 4-20 Trojan lead. The fourth quarter was also low scoring and SPPS took the win, 6-24.
After their loss, the eighth grade was determined to work hard and beat their next opponent, Marysville. The girls would have to work together and play hard to win. In the first quarter, the NC girls took an early lead of 7-3. NC kept their lead going into halftime 14-5.
NC kept the Bulldogs down with a score of 18-7 by the end of the third quarter. The girls worked together and played well in the fourth quarter to get the win, 22-13.
“We had a lot of improvement in our second game and pulled out a win,” said Karla Deters, eighth grade.
The girls had fun competing in their first tournament. Both eighth grade and seventh grade were happy to pull out a win. They will continue to improve in practice to compete in the Big East Championship next month.
Article by: Cora Langill