Girls Basketball
Nemaha Central Middle School girls' basketball played Hiawatha at home on Nov. 17. The Nemaha Central 8th-grade A-team got out to an early 6-4 lead in the first quarter. NC struggled in the second quarter and didn’t score any points. Meanwhile, Hiawatha took advantage and scored 6 more points. The score at halftime was 6-10, Hiawatha in the lead. In the third quarter, the girls scored 8 points and tied the game, while Hiawatha scored 4 points. In the fourth quarter, NC scored 7 points, taking the lead. The final score was 21 to 17. Both teams struggled with free throws. Tatum Snyder had the most points for the Thunder with 9 points. She also only missed one free throw. The 8th-grade B-team dominated and only allowed 6 points compared to their 28. Callie Loveall scored the most points with 9.
The 7th grade A-team was ready to play and in the first quarter scored 14 points. Hiawatha played good defense in the second quarter and only allowed the Thunder to score three points. The Thunder’s defense fell apart in the second quarter and allowed Hiawatha to score four points. The score going into halftime was NC 17, Hiawatha 4. The Thunder came out of halftime aggressive and scored 9 points in the third quarter and 10 in the fourth. Hiawatha tried to keep up, but could only score two points in the third quarter and five in the fourth. The final score was NC 36, Hiawatha 11. Sawyer Lutz had the most points with 14. The 7th grade B-team came out of the gate strong and put up 14 points and Hiawatha had 4. The Thunder won 30, 8. The Thunder struggled with free throws and Emerson Novotny scored the most points with 12. The 7th and 8th grade have had very successful seasons so far. The 8th grade is 7-2, and the 7th grade is 4-4.
“Since last year, we beat Hiawatha, we all went in there with a lot of confidence, and played our best. At one point, they were beating us, but we all knew that we needed to calm down and play how we usually do. And that’s exactly what we did to pull it through and win,” said Emmie Monier, 8th grade.
Article by Heston Kramer
On Nov. 24, 2025, the Nemaha Central girls basketball team traveled to Perry-Lecompton and won 3 out of 4 games. The 8th grade A team won with a final score of 47-8.The girls played very good defense, as well as an incredible offense. Top-scorers were: Lillian Deters with 14 points; Tatum Snyder with 13, including a three pointer in the 1st quarter; and Logan Honeyman with 10 points. When asked about the game, Tatum Snyder quoted, “I think we did really well, and played good against that team.”
The 8th grade B team played very well, but fell short of victory.. The final score of the game was 8-12. It was not a full game, as they only played two quarters. The top scorer was Emmie Monier with 4 points.
The 7th graders also did very well, winning both games. The 7th grade A team beat Perry 37-7. The top scorer was Sawyer Lutz with 18 points. The 7th grade B team also played extremely well, winning 34-12. The top scorer in the B team game was Emersyn Novotny, with 13 points. Overall, the girls did very well, and dominated the competition.
Article by Abbott Sullivan
On Dec. 2, 2025, Nemaha Central and Royal Valley middle schools had a basketball showdown. The leading scorers for the 7th grade A-team were Emersyn Novotny, scoring 10, and Nora Ranieri, scoring 9. The final score of the game was 41-2, Nemaha Central on top. During the 7th grade B-team, Novotny scored another 10 points, followed by Lily Romney who scored 6 points. This was another game where Nemaha Central outperformed the opponent. While they only played two quarters, they won 23-0, shutting out Royal Valley.
During the 8th grade A-team game, the leading scorers were Logan Honeyman, scoring 12 points, followed by Tatum Snyder, scoring 3 points. The final score was 25-31 with Royal Valley on top. For the 8th grade B-team game, the leading scorers were Callie Loveall, scoring 11, and Emmie Monier, scoring 4. The final score was 19-6, Nemaha Central on top.
Article by Landen Stallbaumer
Nemaha Central Middle School girls basketball played in the Big East Tournament on December 6, 2025.
In their first game, the 8th grade girls played against the Atchison Phoenixes. After the first quarter the score was 4-3 and the Thunder were up! In the second quarter the Thunder scored 10 points. In the third quarter, Lillian Deters and Emmie Monier both scored 6 points that quarter while they held Atchison to 7 points. The score was 30-7. Both teams scored 4 points in the last quarter. The Thunder won 34-11.
Against the Silver Lake Eagles, the Thunder had a tough time. The Thunder lost 42-23, the Thunder’s leading scorers were Tatum Snyder and Logan Honeyman, who both had 10.
The 7th grade team played the Hiawatha Redhawks for their first game. Nemaha Central absolutely blew them away, 34-0. The Thunder’s leading scorer was Sawyer Lutz with 20 points. After the first half, the Thunder had a 18 point lead, in the second half they scored another 16 points to win.
For their next game they played against the Holton Wildcats, losing 42-14. After the first quarter, Holton had an early lead of 20-0, but in the second quarter the Thunder got the offense working and scored 6 points. However Holton also scored 6 points and still had a 20 point lead. In the third quarter Holton really tightened up the defense, and NC only scored 4 while Holton scored 12. In the fourth quarter NC turned things around on defense, but it was too late. Holton’s early 20 point lead was too much to recover from. The Thunder lost 42-14. The Thunder’s leading scorer was Sawyer Lutz with 5 points. One thing that was really good about this Holton team was clearly their defense. However, both the 8th and 7th graders had an amazing season!
Article by Will Martin