The Nemaha Central Middle School girls basketball team took a road trip to Perry-Lecompton on Monday, October 17 to kick off the season. The team consists of 13 eighth graders and 19 seventh graders. The coaches for this year's team are Darrin Hermesch, Jessie Macke, and Bethany Griffith and the managers are Payton Huerter, Makenzie Howard, Teagan Lueger, and Ali Henry.
Kicking it off for the Thunder was the eighth grade A-team game. NC had a slow start but played good defense only allowing the Kaws to score 10 points in the first half. The NC girls battled for a lead but came up short at the half with only 9 points.
Perry had the ball first in the second half making the Thunder work on defense. The Thunder was tough on defense, only letting the Kaws score 7 points in the second half. NC worked hard on offense but fell short only scoring 6 in the second half, making them short of the victory with a final score of 15-17. The Thunder team suffered their first loss by only a couple of points.
Alex Burkitt said, “I thought that even if it was a little rough, we played really well for our first game.”
After watching the eighth-grade A-team, the B-team was fired up. They started off slow by scoring only one bucket in the first quarter. The Thunder defense started a bit rough letting the Kaws score 8 in the first quarter. The first quarter ended with the Thunder trailing 2-8.
Picking things back up in the second quarter the Thunder offense scored 5 points, but they also allowed Perry to score 8 again. The game consisted of only two quarters making the ending score 7-16, with the Thunder dropping their first game to the Kaws. Even though NC fought hard they didn’t get the outcome they were looking for but are ready to work to improve throughout the season.
On the other hand, the seventh-grade A-team started the game on fire, scoring 10 points in the first quarter while holding Perry scoreless. NC expanded their lead in the second quarter scoring 4 more points. Their defense held tight not letting Perry score once again, making the halftime score 14-0.
Starting the third quarter the NC girls scored 13, as Perry finally got on the board with 6 points. The score going into the final quarter of the game was 27-6. Perry pushed through the fourth quarter trying to get back in the game, but couldn’t manage to score any points. The Lady Thunder increased their score by 9 points, dominating Perry with a 36-6 win.
Meg Honeyman said, “I was a little nervous in the beginning but as the game went on I felt more confident, we played well for the first game of the season.”
Next up was the seventh-grade B-team. After watching the A-team defeat the Kaws, the Thunder team was ready for their turn. The NC girls started off on the right foot scoring 14 in the first quarter, as Perry scored 0. In the second quarter, Perry was still held scoreless while the Thunder team increased their lead by 6.
Starting the third quarter with a score of 20-0, the Thunder girls didn’t give up scoring 6 more points, while Perry scored 2. The Thunder girls were going into the fourth quarter with the right mindset. Their positive mindset pushed them to score 6 more points, while only letting Perry score 1. This was another great victory for the Thunder with a final score of 32-3.
All four teams worked hard and had a good start to their season. However, the Thunder girls are looking to improve their skills this season and have some nights when all 4 teams get a win. Good luck, girls!
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