Boys Basketball
On Jan. 2, the Nemaha Central Middle School boys basketball team traveled to St. Mary's for their first game of the season.
The eighth-grade A-team lost 24-50. They had to face a talented St. Mary's team. Starting the first quarter, St. Mary's started strong, making three 3-point shots along with some more buckets. The Thunder's first quarter started slowly. The Thunder only made two 3-point shots and a few buckets, leaving the score 16-10. The Bears kept the lead strong, maintaining their lead. The Thunder started to struggle, failing to score during the second quarter, leaving the score 28-10. Finally, the fourth quarter resulted in a St. Mary's win of 50-24.
The eighth-grade B-team lost 29-31. Both teams started slowly, resulting in a 4-2 lead for the Thunder after the first quarter. The second quarter was a little more action-packed, with the Thunder scoring 9 points, while the Bears scored 7, leaving the score 13-9. The third quarter was a little different, though; the Bears were able to outscore the Thunder this quarter by 1 point, leaving the score 20-17. The Thunder were outscored 29-31 after a buzzer-beater floater to win the game for the Bears.
The seventh-grade A-team won 42-12. The Thunder started hot in the first quarter and scored 11 points. Going into half, the Thunder were up big, 23-5. In the third quarter, the Bears scored 11 points, while the Thunder scored 5, leaving the score 34-10. The final score was 42-12 with the Thunder on top.
The seventh-grade B-team won 9-5. It was a short, 2-quarter game due to the lack of players. Starting the first quarter, the Thunder scored 5 points. The Bears came out ready and scored 5 points to tie the Thunder at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter was different; however, the Thunder came out solid, scoring 4 points. Resulting in a 9-5 win for the Thunder. “I feel like we had a great first game and day overall as a team,” Kemper Scism, 7th, said.
Article by Evan Bletscher
On Jan. 5, 2026, the Nemaha Central Thunder had their first home game of the season against the Atchison Phoenix.
In the 8th-grade A team game, both teams had a slow start, leading with 6-2 at the end of the first quarter. Nemaha Central had a better second quarter and scored 16 alone. The Phoenix still couldn’t get much together and only scored four in the second quarter. The halftime score was 22-6 with the Thunder ahead. The third quarter was pretty even, with the Thunder scoring 12 and the Phoenix scoring 13. The score is now 34-19 heading into the fourth. Atchison scored 12 points in the fourth and Nemaha Central scored seven, which had an ending score of 41-31. That gave Grant Heinen, 8th grade, an and one to seal the game. “It felt good because the kid guarding me was talking trash the whole game, and he fouled out on the play, " Heinen said.
The 8th-grade B-team had a stupendous start and scored seven in the first quarter. Atchison only scored two, making the score 7-2 at the end of the first quarter. The score was 13-4 going into halftime, with the Thunder in the lead. The Thunder scored 12 while Atchison scored five. The score is now 25-9 heading into the final quarter. Nemaha Central curb stomped Atchison in the final quarter. The final score of the game was 35-11. This was a great win for the Thunder giving them their first win of the season. Both 8th grade teams’ records are now 1-1 on the season.
The 7th-grade A-team had a blazing start with the score being 13-3 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter was tolerable for both teams, with NC scoring 9 and Atchison scoring 5 in the second quarter. The score going into halftime was 22-8. Things were looking pretty good for the Thunder, but Atchison wasn’t done yet. Atchison came out of halftime scoring 12, with Nemaha Central only scoring 7 making it 29-20. It was a tight game going into the fourth quarter. Nemaha Central only scored 7 points, and Atchison came up three points short, scoring 13.
Just like the A-team, the B-team had a commendable start, scoring 7 in the first quarter and holding Atchison to only 2. The Thunder scored 8, and the Phoenix scored 7, making the score 15-9 at halftime. Both teams had a slow start to the second half. Nemaha Central scored 3, and Atchison scored 4, making the score 18-13 going into the final quarter. The Thunder scored 6 points and Atchison scored 8, making the score 24-21, the Thunder coming out on top. That puts the Thunder 7th-grade A and B teams 2-0 on the season.
Article by Levi Holthaus
On Jan 8, 2026 the NCEMS basketball team made the long drive to Silver Lake.
In the first quarter, NC 8th-grade A scored 1 point, while Silver Lake put 17 points on the board. Nemaha didn't lose hope though, and in the second quarter, scored 7 points while Silver Lake added 14. Silver Lake had a shooter who was on fire, so Nemaha adjusted their defense, allowing Ethan Jost to have a great block. At halftime, the score was 31 to 8 with Silver Lake leading. In the last half NC scored 11 and Silver Lake scored 20 points, causing the final score to be 51 to 19, giving NC’s 8th-grade A team a record of 1-2.
In the first quarter of the 8th-grade B game, Nemaha scored 9 points, and Silver Lake scored 10 points. In the second quarter, Nemaha put 8 more points on the board, and Silver Lake scored 13. The score at halftime was close, with Nemaha behind 17 to 23. In the second half, Silver Lake outscored Nemaha with a final score of 31 to 44.
For the 7th-grade A game, it was a close matchup with both teams putting up 7 points in the first quarter. Going into halftime, both teams continued to match each other with a score of 18 to 18. Silver Lake took the lead in the third quarter by one point. Nemaha battled back in the last quarter, ending the game with a score of 35 to 31.
During the 7th-grade B game, Silver Lake took the lead early and held on until the end. In the first quarter, Nemaha scored 3 points and Silver Lake scored 8. In the second quarter, Nemaha scored 3 again and Silver Lake scored 3. The halftime score was 6 to 11. In the third quarter, Nemaha scored 9 and Silver Lake scored 3. In the fourth quarter Nemaha scored 2 points and Silver Lake scored 9. The final score was 17 to 23.
All teams tried their hardest and are excited to keep improving as the season rolls on.
Article by Grady Schmelzle
Girls Wrestling
On Jan. 5, 2026, the Nemaha Central Middle School girls wrestling team traveled to Holton for its first meet of the season. The other schools that attended were: Holton, Royal Valley, Perry Lecompton, Atchison, and Onaga. The seventh-grade results were: Emersyn Novotny 2-0, Kyra Wagner 1-2, and Cecilia Holthaus 1-2.
“The first meet was nerve-racking. I probably need to work more on my sprawling skills,” said Novotny, 7th.
The eighth-grade results were: Nikki Lambrecht 1-0, Viviana Chub Acte 0-2, Charlie Koch 2-1, Audrey Sudbeck 1-1, and Ava Madrid 1-1. Although there’s room for improvement, NCMS did wonderful for their first meet of the season. Keep doing great girls, keep practicing, and keep doing your best.
Article by Charlie Koch
On Thursday, Jan. 8, the Nemaha Central middle school girls' wrestling team traveled to Sabetha. The teams at the meet included: Sabetha, Holton, Onaga, Riverside, and Nemaha Central.
Three 7th grade girls wrestled, and their results are as follows: Cici Holthaus, 2-0; Emersyn Novotny, 2-0; and Ellie Burkitt, 1-1.
Six 8th grade girls wrestled and earned the following results: Charlie Koch, 1-1; Brooklyn Korber, 1-2; Audrey Sudbeck, 2-0; Nikki Lambrecht, 3-0; Ava Madrid, 0-2; and Viviana Chub Acte, 0-2. “I had good people to wrestle. It was really hard to win a wrestling match. I will work harder to get them into a position to pin them,” Chub Acte, 8th, said.
In conclusion, NCMS pushed to do their best while having fun. Good luck, Thunder wrestlers, for the rest of the season. Keep representing your school, NCMS!
Article By: Lillian Deters