The top two seeds prevailed and Friday featured a pair of blowout games with running clocks in the fourth quarter in the Hiawatha 3A Sub State girls semifinals.

Sabetha 63, Bishop Ward 29

The Lady Bluejays won every quarter and increase their lead throughout the game while getting a lot of points in the paint.  Three forwards all scored in double figures as Hannah Wertenberger had 14 points, Leah Renyer added 13 and Payton Michael chipped in 12 including going 10-12 from the foul line.

Melinna Schumann scored nine in the first half, but reinjured her broken wrist early in the third quarter that had caused her to miss a couple weeks before returning earlier this week. Schumann did not return in the game as the Lady Jays turned a 30-11 halftime advantage into a 25 point margin heading into the fourth quarter and improved their record to 19-3 this season. 

Bishop Ward was 0-12 from the three-point range in the first half and struggled with foul trouble and turnovers while ending their season with a record of 17-5.  Perla Delgado had 10 points while Jimena Lopez and Augustina Rosales each added nine for the Cyclones.    

Nemaha Central 64, ACCHS 22 

This game was tied at nine with 1:53 to go in the first quarter and the #4 seed Tigers had early leads of 3-0 and 5-2.  Yet, after the tie at nine, #1 seed Nemaha Central got things rolling to the tune of scoring 38 unanswered points and led 47-9 early in the third quarter before coasting to the win. During a 24-0 second quarter, the Lady Tigers had 11 of their 24 total turnovers and Nemaha made everything look pretty easy improving to 22-0 on the season with 21 of those wins by at least 15 points. Alleigh Kramer scored 16 points while Cassidy Corby had 14 off the bench to double her season average. The Thunder pulled their top seven players from rotation midway through the third quarter and had a 57-14 lead entering the fourth frame. 

ACCHS was led by Aleah Wallish, one of three key freshman starters, with seven points as the Tigers finished their season with a record of 11-11. Atchison County graduates only one senior in Sarah Kimmi who scored six points in the fourth quarter to complete her prep basketball career. Addison Schletzbaum also had six points for ACCHS, who will be a team to watch for the next few seasons as this solid group of freshman advance. 

Nemaha Central beat Sabetha by seven points their first meeting, which was the only close contest this season.  The #1 ranked Thunder rolled 42-21 against their county and league rivals from Sabetha to conclude the regular season and will face off a third time against the Bluejays at 6:00 PM on Saturday night in the Roundhouse for a chance to return to the state tournament for a fourth consecutive year.  

The Nemaha Central boys will also play for the 3A Hiawatha Sub State Championship on Saturday night as they have a rubber-match in the third meeting this season against Marysville at 7:30.  Both games will be broadcast on KMZA 92.1 FM and the MSC Sports Radio Network.