The high school basketball season opened up on Friday night in Seneca with Big Seven League action for the Nemaha Central Thunder and Jeff West Tigers and the Thunder snagged a pair of victories. Nemaha Central girls battled back to grab the 39-34 win and the Thunder boys used a quick start to push themselves to the win. 

The girls got the night rolling and Nemaha Central got off to a solid start behind the play of Laura Macke and Kaley Dalinghaus but Jeff West answered and took their first lead at 8-7 and led 15-10 by the end of the first quarter as Mariah Murdie scored seven of the team’s first 15 for the Tigers. Jeff West made that lead stand up going into halftime up by six points 21-15 but Nemaha Central defensively deterred Jeff West's offense in the third quarter holding them to two points and won the quarter 13-2 to regain the lead at 28-23 after three quarters of action. The Thunder held Jeff West at bay the rest of the way to ultimately secure the 39-34 victory. 

Nemaha Central in the to open the season 1-0 was led by Macke who posted 13 points to earn Community National Bank "Player to Bank On" honors on KMZA, while Dalinghaus added eight points and Maggie Hammes hit a pair of three's for six points. Jeff West in the loss fell to 0-1 to start the season and was led by Murdie who had a game high 16 points, while Alyssa Garza and Faith Becker each tallied six points. 

The boy’s game featured a quick start by Nemaha Central forcing some early Jeff West turnovers and turning them into points also, while holding Jeff West scoreless for over half the first quarter. The Tigers got a bucket at the buzzer to end the first but trailed Nemaha Central 12-4 and the Thunder made that early lead stand up going into halftime up 21-13. Lead grew to double digits in the second half but Jeff West behind the play of Nick Malloy made a push in the fourth quarter getting within six points a couple of times but didn't get any closer as the Thunder finished the game off to snagged the 46-36 win. 

All but five points for Nemaha Central came from four players as they start the season 1-0. Both Mitchell Henry and Dylan Enneking each posted 12 points on the night and earned Co-Community National Bank "Player to Bank On" honors on KMZA, while Nate Beck notched nine points and Trenton Henry scored eight. Jeff West opens the season 0-1 and was led by Malloy in the loss who posted a game high 20 points scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter. 

Nemaha Central continues the basketball season on Tuesday when they travel to ACCHS, while Jeff West has their home opener welcoming Riverside to town.