The Nemaha Central Middle School eighth grade girls basketball team traveled to St. Marys to kick off the Big East Tournament on Saturday, December 7, 2024. The Thunder was seeded sixth, with a four-way tie from the fourth seed to the eighth seed. All of those teams had a record of 6-5. The Thunder took on number 11 seed Royal Valley in the opening round of the tournament.
The Thunder team was ready to get the game going and was hoping to pull out the win. The first quarter went just as the Thunder had hoped, they were leading at the end of the quarter, 6-0. The Thunder didn’t hold them scoreless in the second quarter but kept them from getting too close. Going into halftime the Thunder was up with a score of 9-2.
The Thunder was willing to work hard and try to gain more of a lead on them. They did just that and ended the third quarter, 14-4. The Thunder couldn’t get as many shots to fall in the fourth quarter but still ended up winning 19-7.
The Thunder had back-to-back games, so they played Silver Lake right after Royal Valley. Silver Lake came into the tournament seeded third. The first quarter did not go as the Thunder had liked and they found themselves down 0-11 at the end of the quarter. They hoped to get some momentum in the second quarter, but couldn’t seem to get much. Entering halftime the score was 4-21 in favor of the Eagles.
The Thunder girls weren’t too happy about the score and were willing to play the best they could to add some more points to their score. They couldn’t get many shots to fall and ended the third quarter 9-31. The Thunder tried their best this game but couldn’t get a good flow of momentum. The game's final score was 9-39 with the Thunder coming out with a loss.
“We played really hard, and when we got tired we pushed through and did our best,” said Madison Ward.
The Thunder went 1-1 on the day, beating Royal Valley and losing to Silver Lake.
On day two of the Big East Tournament, the NCEMS 8th grade girls traveled to Jeff West on Thursday, December 12, 2024. In their first game, they were up against Perry-Lecompton, playing for a chance to get fifth place.
The first quarter was a little rough with the Thunder only scoring two points and the Kaws with 6. Trailing by four, the Thunder girls went into the second quarter with the hopes of catching up with the Kaws. Losing confidence, the girls were not able to keep up and were only able to score one. Perry was able to gain a lead, scoring nine points. The Thunder was down at halftime with a score of 3-15.
The third quarter started a little better defensively for the Thunder. Both teams added 4 points to their score as the third quarter ended 7-19. Down by 12, the girls keep playing hard, knowing they could do it. They were able to hold Perry to just one point in the fourth quarter, but they were only able to gain three points, which wasn’t quite enough. The game ended with a final score of 10-20.
The 8th grade girls were disappointed because they knew they could do better. The NC girls were looking forward to the next game against Rossville after a short break to build up energy.
The girls came onto the court feeling ready to face the Dawgs. The first quarter did not go as planned, and Rossville was able to take a lead, 0-6. The Thunder girls wanted a win and tried to pick it up by scoring five points in the second quarter. However, Rossville scored 11 points, so they were leading at halftime 5-17.
After halftime, the girls were hoping for a better second half. The Thunder was able to score seven points in the third quarter while the Dawgs scored nine, making the score 12-26. Knowing they could at least beat them by the quarter, the Thunder stepped it up and was able to play more aggressively in the last quarter. The girls were able to score seven points while holding Rossville to only two. It wasn't enough to get the win as they lost with a final score of 19-28. After fighting hard, the girls shook hands and felt proud of their last quarter.
Evelyn Ba Coc said, “We worked hard and I loved playing with my teammates.”
The Thunder finished the Big East Tournament in eighth place and they had a record of 8-7 on the season.
Article by: Piper Hiltgen and Olivia Hermesch
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