The Nemaha Central Middle School Lady Thunder basketball team met up again to play the Riverside Cyclones on Monday, November 15, 2021. The games were played at the NCHS gymnasium. Due to the number of players participating from Riverside, there were only two games, a seventh-grade A-team game, and an eighth-grade A-team game. The eighth-graders went into the game looking for their sixth win of the season, while the seventh grade was looking to stay undefeated this season.
The eighth-grade Thunder A-team started out the night with a tough battle with the Cyclones, ending with a close first quarter score of 4-5. The start of the second quarter was slow, but both teams ended up scoring a few more baskets to keep the score close, 11-12.
The NC team came out with force after halftime and scored points, but fell behind a few more points by the end of the quarter, 17-20. The Thunder athletes battled the Cyclones to the end, but came up short, ending the game with a 21-29 loss.
“We played really hard and had great defense, but it wasn’t enough at the end to come out with a win,” said Ali Lueger.
The seventh-grade A-team was pumped and ready to go, dominating the first quarter 16-2. In the second quarter, the Thunder team played excellent outscoring the Cyclones again. NC finished the first half leading with a score of 26-2.
After halftime, the Thunder athletes came back onto the court and crushed their rivalry ending the quarter 44-2. In the fourth quarter, NC made some substitutions but still went out with a bang finishing the game with a 48-2 victory.
McKenzie Rottinghaus said, “It was super fun getting to play, and it was cool that we beat Riverside by a couple more points than we did last time.”
The NC basketball girls finished out the night splitting with Riverside. The Thunder girls played tough and worked hard. Although one team lost, it was still a successful night for the Thunder!
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