The Nemaha Central Middle School basketball season has officially started. On the eighth grade team, there are thirteen girls, while on the seventh grade team there are nine girls. The managers for the basketball team are Madi Scott, Kaitlyn Hammes, Alayna Scism, and Emma Henry. The coaches are Heather Sullivan, Bethany Griffith, and Darrin Hermesch. The teams started their season at Jeff West on Monday, October 21.
The eighth grade A-team kicked off the night at the Jefferson West Middle School. The eighth grade A-team started the game off getting their nerves out. The team only scored 4 points the first quarter, while Jeff West was able to score 6. At the end of the quarter, the score was 4-6. The second quarter was still slow moving, but NC picked up their shooting game. The Thunder girls scored 8 points in the second quarter, while holding Jeff West to 2. For the first time of the night, they took the lead. At halftime the score was 12-8.
After halftime, the Thunder team came out strong. The Thunder team picked up their defense and only allowed the Tigers 5 points. At the end of the quarter, the Thunder team had a seven point lead, 20-13, going into the fourth quarter. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Thunder team didn’t play their best defense and also their shots weren’t falling. The Thunder team allowed the Tigers 10 points in the first minutes of the quarter. The teams were very close in score the rest of the quarter. The lead changed many times throughout the fourth quarter, but the Tigers pulled ahead at the end. The final score was 28-25.
The eighth grade B-team played after the A-team game. In the first quarter, both teams started the game off slow. The Thunder team scored 6 points in the first quarter, while the Tigers scored 5 points. In the second quarter, the Thunder team’s shots weren’t falling. The Thunder team scored 1 basket the whole second quarter, while the Tigers added 7 points to their score. The score at the end of the second quarter was the Thunder 8 and the Tigers 12.
After halftime, the teams started off slow. The Thunder’s defense was really good and only allowed the Tigers 2 points in the third quarter. The score at the end of the third quarter was 14-14. In the fourth quarter, both teams played good defense. The Thunder team scored one basket while the Tigers scored 1 basket, ending game regulation 16-16.
The teams were tied, which meant there would be overtime. The overtime would be three minutes. The Tigers got the ball on the jump, but the Thunder’s defense stopped them. Both teams scored 1 basket in the first overtime. This would mean double overtime. The Thunder’s offense just couldn’t get going, and their defense wasn’t the best. The Thunder team lost with a score of 20-23.
“It was a great first game, we learned a lot from the game, and now we know what we need to improve on,” said Kate Heinen.
The seventh grade A-team kicked off the night at Jefferson West Elementary School. The team was nervous for their first middle school basketball game. The Thunder girls were figuring out the game and the score, at the end of the quarter was 4 to 4. The second quarter the Thunder team’s defense was much better. The Thunder team learned how to play around the Tiger’s defense and got a lot more shots. The score at the end of the quarter was 10-4 with a Thunder lead.
After halftime, the Thunder team came out ready to win. They huddled around and their head coach Bethany Griffith talked about how to rebound and go back up strong. The Thunder team got a lot more rebounds than the other team this quarter. The score at the end of the third quarter was 20-6 with the Thunder team stretching their lead. The Thunder team allowed the Tigers only 2 points, while adding 7 of their own in the fourth quarter. The final score was 27-8 and the Thunder team had their first win.
“We didn’t start off the game strong, but as the game went on, we were way more aggressive,” said Hallie Holthaus.
The seventh grade B-team’s defense was very good, while their offense was good, too. The Thunder team scored 12 points, while the Tigers were held scoreless. The second quarter rolled around, and the Thunder team was doing just as well. They scored 8 points, also their defense did not allow the Tigers to score. The score after the second quarter was 19-0.
The seventh grade B-team had a slow start in the third quarter, only scoring 2 points. The Tigers also scored 2 points in the third quarter. At the end of the third quarter, the score was 21-2. In the fourth quarter, the Thunder team’s shooting game was on. The Thunder team scored 8 points in the fourth quarter. The final score was 29-6.
In conclusion the first basketball games of the season for the seventh grade went well, while the eighth grade teams have some improvements to make. The Thunder teams are looking forward to having a great season this year. On the eighth grade side, they will be ready for their rematch against the Tigers when the game rolls around again.