On Saturday, February 11, the Nemaha Central Middle School hosted an 8th grade boys basketball tournament at the high school. The three other teams in the tournament were the Atchison Phoenix, Marysville Bulldogs, and Sabetha Bluejays. The Thunder team was ready for a morning full of basketball.
The Thunder started off the day playing the Phoenix. Nemaha Central started off strong, scoring eight points and holding Atchison to only one basket. The score at the end of the first quarter was 8-2. NC’s offense took off in the second quarter, as they scored ten more points to make the score 18-7.
Nemaha Central came out of halftime on fire, scoring seventeen more points. The Thunder’s defense was not as strong, but they still kept the lead. Heading into the fourth quarter, the score was 35-15. Both teams were tired and saving up for the next game so there were not many points scored in the quarter. The ending score was 40-17 for a Thunder win.
“We worked hard as a team for the victory,” said Conner Lueger.
The second and final game of the day was against the Marysville Bulldogs. The Thunder got a head start against the Bulldogs scoring nine points and holding Marysville to two points. NC went on a scoring drive in the second quarter, extending their score by eleven points. The Thunder played lockdown defense only allowing the Bulldogs to score six points. The score was 20-8 heading into halftime.
Coming out after halftime, both teams were ready to score. Nemaha Central scored eleven more points and Marysville scored eight more points. The score was 31-16 at the end of the third quarter. The Thunder did not let up in the fourth quarter scoring ten more points while keeping up their tough defense. The final score was 41-20 for a Thunder victory.
Brady Koch said, “It was fun to play teams outside of our league and we came out with victories!”
The Nemaha Central 8th grade boys had a very successful day going 2-0 in the tournament. The Thunder hopes to maintain their winning record to finish off the season. Great job Thunder!
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