The Nemaha Central boys basketball team kicked off their season with the home opener against Perry-Lecompton on Thursday, January 5. The Thunder team has 9 seventh graders and 15 eighth graders playing ball this season. The team is coached by Jesse Helm, Jason Hajek, and Todd Krause and the managers are Gus Rusche, Jeremy Rohlmeier, Chase Zimmerling, Liam Allen, and Keagan Graf.
The first game played was the 8th grade A-team. The first quarter started and both teams were battling for the lead. Perry ended up on top by the end of the quarter with a score of 6-7. The second quarter was better for NC but still really close as NC took the lead into halftime with a score of 15-13.
After halftime, the Thunder team increased their lead scoring seven more points to Perry’s 3, making the score 22-16 at the end of the third quarter. The game was a little closer in the fourth quarter, but the Thunder team hung on for the win, 27-23.
The second game played was the 8th grade B-team. The first quarter was a good battle between both teams, but Perry came out on top at the end of the quarter with a score of 2-3. The Thunder played more aggressively in the second quarter and by the time halftime rolled around, the Thunder team was on top with a score of 9-7.
At the beginning of the second half of the game, Perry’s defense was good and the Thunder team lost the lead as the score was 9-11. The fourth quarter started and the Thunder team was not ready to lose. They were trying hard to not let Perry score. They managed to keep Perry to only a freethrow and at the end of the game, the Thunder team won with a score of 16-12.
Colten Corby said, “It was a challenge and a close game, but we learned from it.”
The first game of the 7th grade was the A-team. In the first quarter, the Thunder had a lead of 7-4. The Thunder team wanted to keep the lead so they played hard and at halftime the score was 12-7.
After halftime, the Thunder team did not want Perry to win so they scored a few more baskets in the third quarter to hold the lead at 18-12. The Thunder team outscored Perry 9-2 in the fourth quarter to get the win. The final score of the game was 27-14.
The second game of the 7th grade was the B-team game. Due to the number of athletes, the teams only played two quarters. The Thunder team had a good start to the game. The score by the end of the quarter was 8-0. The second quarter was better as the Thunder team added 12 points to their score and they were not letting Perry score. The final score of the two-quarter game was 20-0.
Landon Mady said, “We did good, but there is room for improvement.”
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