The Nemaha Central Middle School boys took on the Riley County Falcons on Thursday, January 18. The Nemaha Central basketball team was excited for a tough game, but with the help of the Thunder fans maybe they could get the win.
First up to play in the main gym at the high school was the eighth grade A-team, followed by the seventh grade A-team, and then a combined B-team of seventh and eighth grade all in the same gym.
The Nemaha Central eighth grade A-team started the game off with Tate Edelman doing tip-off. The Thunder boys had a tough first quarter only scoring 3 points while the Falcons, on the other hand, scored 6 points. The quarter ended with the Thunder trailing, 3-6. The second quarter was almost identical to the first with NC scoring only 1 point from a free throw. Although they battled hard, Riley County ended up scoring 3 points making the score 4-9 and increasing their lead.
The third quarter was a close one and had all the fans on the edges of their seats. Halfway through the third quarter, both teams had scored 9 points. However, Riley County ended the quarter by scoring 13 points while NC scored 9 points. Going into the last quarter, the score was 13-22. The fourth quarter was a good quarter with both teams trying their hardest on both defense and offense. The quarter score was 4-4 with 2:00 minutes left in the last quarter. The Thunder ended up scoring a few more points making the quarter score now 9-4. Unfortunately, NC ended up fouling giving Riley County a chance to pull away. Riley County made both free throws and the game ended with a final score of 22-30. Both teams lined up and said good game and then got ready to watch the 7th grade A-team game.
Next, the seventh grade A-team played and in the first quarter, NC had fallen behind 0-15. NC realized that they had to play good defense and offense to put points on the board. They finally hit a 3, making the score in the first quarter 3-15. The second quarter was a fast quarter causing NC to only get a few shots up, while on the other hand, Riley County was doing the opposite. Riley County was playing well offensively and they scored 16 more points while NC couldn’t get much going in the quarter and only scored a free throw. The halftime score was 4-31.
The third quarter was the same as the other ones but the Thunder learned from the first two quarters and improved a little bit on both defense and offense. Both teams fought hard in the third quarter with NC scoring 6 points while Riley County increased theirs by 13, making the score 10-44. The last quarter was a sad quarter with NC not scoring any points offensively with the tough Riley County defense. With better defense, NC was able to hold Riley County to just 6 points. The final score was 10-50 for another Thunder loss
Brentlee Pfanenstiel said, “It wasn't our best effort but in the end, we learned a lot.”
The NC combined 7th and 8th grade B-team started the game slowly in the first quarter. NC did not score any points, while Riley County on the other hand scored 13 points. NC scored the first three points of the second quarter but Riley County fought back to score 10 making the score 3-23 at halftime.
The third quarter was a slow quarter with both teams going back and forth down the court with no one scoring. Eventually, Riley County ended up finding an opening and scored a total of 9 points while NC only scored 2 making the score now 5-32 with Riley County increasing their lead.
The last quarter was another tough one with both teams playing good defense. A few shots were scored by each team and the final game score was 7-38 for a Riley County victory.
Elvis Pop Cocul said, “We played hard, and we will continue to get better.
The Thunder teams are playing hard and hope to improve on their offense to win a few more games this season.
Article by: Drivyn Hynek