The Nemaha Central Middle School girls basketball team played against Jeff West at home on Thursday, October 28. The game was originally scheduled to be away, but the games were switched and the Thunder team played on their home court.
The 8th grade A-team started the first quarter off with the ball and was ready to play hard. It was a rocky start in the first quarter, but the Lady Thunder team was not going to quit. Both teams were having a hard time getting the offense going so at the end of the quarter the game was tied 2-2. In the second quarter, the Tigers pulled ahead and took a 4-8 lead by the end of the half.
Determined to get a win, the Thunder team worked hard in the third quarter and were able to tie up the game 10-10. It was the final quarter and the teams were trying to get the win. The Thunder was up until the end of the quarter when a couple of freethrows by Jeff West tied the game at 16 and sent it into overtime. The overtime was tough on the Thunder team as they were only able to get a couple of freethrows to go while Jeff West added 5 points to their score to claim the win 18-21.
It was now time for the 8th-grade B-team game and the Thunder team was looking to get revenge since the A-team lost their game. The first quarter score was very close with the Thunder winning 4-3. In the second quarter, the Lady Thunder kept scoring leaving the Tigers in the dust with a lead of 12-5.
The third quarter came around and the Thunder girls were taking revenge like they said they were going to do. The Thunder team was able to increase their lead, 19-10. All the Lady Thunder girls had to do was keep up their level of play and take home the win. The Tigers just would not go away and the Thunder could not get their offense going in the fourth quarter. The Thunder team ended up losing the game with a score of 19-21.
“We just played our hearts out and did our best,” Laura Deters said.
The Thunder seventh grade A-Team is undefeated coming into the game against Jeff West. They started the game off scoring a few buckets and holding the Tigers scoreless. The score at the end of the first quarter was 6-0. In the second quarter, the Lady Thunder team was still winning the game, increasing their lead with a score of 14-5. It was halftime and the Thunder team was confident that they were going to take home the win.
The third quarter was not a great quarter for the Thunder as they were outscored by the Tigers and the lead was cut to 18-12. The Thunder girls bounced back in the final quarter and ended the game with a score of 28-15.
The seventh grade Thunder team won the first game, now could the B-team win the second game? Jeff West started with the ball and both teams had a slow start ending the first quarter with a 0-2 Tiger lead. In the second quarter, the Thunder team rebounded and ended with a lead 5-2.
The third quarter was another good quarter for the Thunder team as they increased their lead with a score of 11-5. The Thunder was on their way to victory going into the fourth quarter and they claimed the game with a score 15-7. The seventh grade did it with 2 wins on the night.
“We played really well, fought until the end, and came out with a win,” said Marin Heinen.
The eighth-graders look forward to a rematch with the Tigers in the second half of the season. The seventh-grade teams were excited about the wins. The Thunder teams are playing well and look forward to their next games.
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