It was a Tuesday night and season sweep for the Nemaha Central Thunder against their Big 7 and county rivals from Sabetha. Nemaha led from start to finish in both games and both teams stayed ahead by double-digits throughout the second half in Seneca. 

GIRLS = Nemaha Cental 42, Sabetha 21

The #1 ranked Lady Thunder capped a perfect 20-0 regular season and undefeated mark in their third straight Big 7 League title campaign with a convincing win against #3 ranked Sabetha. Nemaha led 16-2 after the first quarter and capped a 19-0 run with a 21-2 advantage early in the second stanza. Alleigh Kramer scored 17 points and the Thunder went 16 of 22 from the foul line. Nemaha has the top seed in the Hiawatha 3A Sub State and will open against MH-MA at home on Monday while looking to return to the state tournament where they placed fourth a year ago.   

Sabetha was playing without two of their best players with Melinna Schumann injured and Leah Renyer home sick. The Bluejays were plagued by 19 turnovers and made only one total field goal in the first three quarters of the game.  Trailing 30-10 entering the fourth period, Sabetha would finish with just four made shots on the night before falling to 17-3 on the season. Maggi Hughes went 9-10 from the foul line to score nine points for the Lady Jays who finished second in the Big 7 and is the two seed hosting Marysville to begin 3A Sub State next week.    

BOYS = Nemaha Central 57, Sabetha 45

Nemaha Central scored the first eight points of the game and never trailed in route to a 36-21 halftime lead and had a margin as high as 24 points early in the fourth quarter. Andrew Leonard scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half, including a trey at the end of the first half to give the Thunder a 18-13 advantage heading into an 18-8 second quarter spurt. In their final home game of the regular season, two seniors stepped up big for Nemaha Central as Eric Hammes delivered 12 points and Austin Ahlquist added 11, both tripling their season averages. Kurtis Beck also had 10 points as Nemaha improved to 14-6 on the year and finished 9-5 to tie for second place in the Big 7 League. 

Sabetha got 18 points from Braden Argabright and Kaleb Grimmm added 14 but leading scorer Gabe Garber was held to just one field goal in the contest as the Bluejays fell to 10-10- overall and 6-8 in League play with their third straight loss following wins in eight of their previous nine outings. Sabetha is the #6 seed and will go back to Seneca for a third matchup this year with their rival #3 seed Nemaha Central on Tuesday to begin 3A Sub State play. 

Citizens State Bank and Trust Company of HIawatha "Players to Bank On:"

Alleigh Kramer and Andrew Leonard of Nemaha Central