On Monday, March 2, the Nemaha Central Scholars' Bowl team traveled to Royal Valley for their last meet before the Big 7 championship. The schools that competed at the meet besides NC were Royal Valley, Sabetha, and Hiawatha.
The 7A team would be playing Sabetha A in their first match of the day. They would edge out Sabetha A in a close contest with a score of 70-60. Their second match would not be as close against Royal Valley 7A, as they would dominate in a 80-20 win. Their winning ways would hit a road bump against Hiawatha A as they would lose the match 40-80. They would be the second seed from the A pool in the tournament and would get to face off against the NC 7B team. The match would not be as exciting as the matchup, as NC 7A won 100-30. In the championship, 7A would have a chance to get revenge on Hiawatha A and get first. They would come up just short losing 60-50 taking 2nd place.
The 7B team would start out on a great note defeating Sabetha B 90-10. The Royal Valley team did not have enough players for a 7th grade B-team so the Thunder would have a bye round. Ready to go, they would beat their next opponent, Hiawatha B, 50-20 securing the one seed. In the tournament they would face off against the NC A team and would lose 30-100. They were ready to get back on their feet after taking their first loss and get third. They matched up with Sabetha B, who they had beat in pool play. They would win the next match beating Sabetha B 70-40 to take 3rd place.
“It was a fun experience,” said Kaden Peterson.
The 8A team would lose to Sabetha A 40-100, beat Royal Valley A 60-30, and then lose to Hiawatha A 50-30. They placed 3rd in their pool. In the tournament, the team was looking to turn their luck around. They would do just that and defeat Hiawatha B 70-30. They set their eyes on another win against Sabetha B. They would play great and win 70-50 to take 5th place.
The 8B team would beat Sabetha B 90-40, lose to Royal Valley B by 40 points, 30-70, then beat Hiawatha B, 40-20. In tournament play, they would have a great matchup with Sabetha A, but would lose on the final question by a score of 70-80. They were now looking to get third and would play the only team that beat them in pool play, Royal Valley B. However, the same result would take place as in the Sabetha match, with Royal Valley B answering the last question and beating NC, 60-70. In the end, they would take 4th place.
“I thought it was really fun and I got to be on a great team,” said Silas Ulmer.
Although the NC teams may not have taken any first places, the Thunder teams still did amazing.
Below is a link for more pictures.