On Saturday, February 11, the Nemaha Central Middle School basketball team hosted a tournament. The teams that competed were Nemaha Central, Sabetha, Atchison, and Marysville. Nemaha Central and Sabetha didn’t play each other since they are in the same league, so both teams played Marysville and Atchison. This tournament was a seventh grade A-team tournament.
The 7th grade played Atchison first to start off the day. Both teams were hot to start the first quarter with Atchison holding the lead at the end of the quarter 13-14. NC gained the lead in the second quarter scoring 6 while only giving up 3 to Atchison. The first half ended with NC winning 19-17.
NC started off the second half keeping the game close scoring 6 while Atchison scored 7 leading the game to the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter was a battle for the win, with the score resulting in a tie at 35 to send the game to overtime.
The NC boys went into triple overtime against Atchison with each team scoring 5 points in overtime one, then both teams scored 3 in overtime two. In overtime three, NC won the game scoring 4, while preventing Atchison from scoring any. The final score of the game was 47-43 in triple overtime.
Noah Hilbert said, “It was a close game, but we won in the end.”
The next opponent for the 7th grade team was Marysville. The NC boys began the game starting it off close with a 12-11 lead. The NC boys picked up the pace on defense, only giving up 7 points. They were able to score another 10 points in the quarter giving them a 22-18 lead in the first half.
NC struggled in the third quarter losing their lead when Marysville scored 17 points. The Thunder were only able to score 7, making the game 29-35 going into the fourth quarter. Both teams scored 8 points in the fourth quarter to end the game 37-43 for a Thunder loss.
Dason Hill said, “We played very hard, but we didn’t come out with the win.”
The NC boys have had many overtime games this season, but this one turned out in their favor. The tournament was an excellent way for the boys to improve their basketball skills.
Click the link below for more photos.