Alleigh Kramer

Since the opening week of the 2019-20 high school basketball season the Nemaha Central girls have been the top-ranked team in the state in Class 3A.

The Thunder ran the table and finished the regular season unbeaten and went to the state tournament for the fourth straight year, but this season was different as many considered Nemaha Central to be the overwhelming favorites to win it all.

Behind the back of senior Alleigh Kramer, the Thunder picked up an opening round win over Osage City and set up a match up with Cheney which was going to be a rematch of last season’s state semifinals.

Unfortunately for the Thunder the tournament was canceled, and the season came to close with Nemaha Central ending the year with a record of 24-0.

It also ended the career of Kramer who will go down as one of the best players in Thunder history after leading Nemaha Central to three consecutive Big 7 League Championships and four trips to Hutchinson.

Kramer was great all season long averaging 18.5 points per game while pulling down 5 rebounds per game and dishing out 5 assists a night.

She also led the Thunder to a Wellsville Invitational Championship where she averaged 19.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals per game including a 23-point effort in the championship.

In Nemaha Central’s opening round win at state last week Kramer finished with a game-high 17 points while pulling down four rebounds and dishing out two assists.

Her performance this season earned her a unanimous first team all-Big 7 League selection for the second straight season while earning a second-team all-state selection last year.

Kramer is a likely candidate to be a first team all-state selection this season and is up for 3A Player of the Year by Sports in Kansas.

Kramer now ends her career at Nemaha Central with a win at the state tournament and now turns her attention to the collegiate level where she will attend Benedictine College next season.