The Nemaha Central Middle School girls basketball season has officially started. On the eighth-grade team, there are 9 girls, while on the seventh-grade team there are 15 girls. The managers of the basketball team are Ali Jo Henry, Makenzie Howard, Payton Huerter, and Vivian Thayer. The coaches are Jessie Macke, Darrin Hermesch, and Bethany Griffith. The teams started their season at Perry on Monday, October 18.
The eighth grade A-team from NC kicked off the night at Perry-Lecompton Middle School. They started the night a little slow, only getting 5 points in the first quarter. At the end of the quarter, the score was 5-0. The Thunder girls picked up steam and tallied 10 more points on the board. At the end of the first half, the girls were up 15-0.
After halftime, the Thunder team held the Kaws scoreless by playing great defense, while adding 9 more points to their score. At the end of the third quarter, the score was 24-0. Still going strong in the fourth quarter, the girls picked up 4 more points and didn’t let the Kaws score. The Thunder won with a final score of 28-0!
“I think we played really hard, and I’m glad we have our first game behind us as a win!” said Kailey Mady.
The next game was the eighth-grade B-team between the Thunder and the Kaws. The Thunder girls were determined to win just as the A-team did. They started off in the first quarter scoring 4 points and not letting the Kaws get by them. In the second quarter, they held their ground and put 4 more points on the board. The score at halftime was 8-0 with a Thunder lead.
Starting the second half, the girls were able to score 4 points again, while the Kaws were still held scoreless. Going strong into the last quarter, the Thunder team managed to score 8 points, but let one shot slip past their defense. The ending score was 20-2 with another dominant win by the Thunder team.
The Thunder seventh grade A-team started their game in the secondary gym. The girls were warmed up and ready to play. The Thunder team started off their first middle school game leading the Kaws 6-0 in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Thunder girls again scored 6 more points while only allowing the Kaws 4. The Thunder girls were leading the game 12-4 at halftime.
The Thunder started the third quarter and scored only four points and the Kaws scored 6 to close the gap a little, 16-10. The Thunder girls were determined to win the game and they held the Kaws off in the fourth quarter for a close win, 20-17.
“We worked hard and didn’t give up until the end of the game, and our hard work paid off and we won!” said Emma Hermesch.
Next up was the seventh grade B-team right after the A-team game. The Thunder team was determined to pull off a win for their first game. The girls started off slow by only scoring 4 points in the first quarter, but they also held the Kaws to 2 points. In the second quarter, both teams added 2 points to their score to make it an NC lead at halftime with a score of 6-4.
In the next two quarters, the teams stayed at the same score and didn’t make any more shots the rest of the game. It was a tight, low-scoring game, but the Thunder girls were able to pull off the win 6-4.
Overall, it was a good night and everyone came out with a win! The Thunder girls were very proud of each other for a clean sweep on their first basketball game of the season!
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