The high school basketball season continued last night with Big 7 League play as Hiawatha hosted Nemaha Central and it was the visiting Thunder who picked up a sweep winning the girls game 57-36 and the boys 53-48.

Girls: Nemaha Central 57, Hiawatha 36

The girl’s game was close for a quarter but Nemaha Central flexed their muscles and went on to cruise to a 57-36 victory.

Hiawatha could not have gotten off to a better start as the Redhawks knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and behind eight points from Clara Lindstrom led 18-11 after one quarter.

But, the second quarter was all Nemaha Central as the Thunder outscored Hiawatha 21-0 in the quarter behind 15 combined points from sophomore Ella Larkin and senior Riley Rottinghaus.

Hiawatha got the game back down to 11 points going into the fourth quarter, but in the fourth Rottinghaus and senior Cassidy Corby each scored seven points to put the game away for the Thunder.

Nemaha Central was led in scoring by Rottinghaus who scored 21 points while Corby added 16 and Larkin 12.

Hiawatha finished with two players in double figures in the loss as Sarah Madsen notched 12 points while Lindstrom added 10.

Next up for Nemaha Central (4-0) is a home game Friday against Royal Valley, while Hiawatha (0-2) will travel to Holton.

Boys: Nemaha Central 53, Hiawatha 48

For the most part the boy’s game was back-and-forth throughout with Nemaha Central taking a 14-8 lead after one behind six points from junior Kurtis Beck.

Hiawatha battled back though and took the lead going into halftime as junior Carson Gilbert scored eight points in the second to give the Redhawks a 26-24 lead at the break.

Gilbert had another big third quarter with seven more points, but Kurtis Beck responded for Nemaha Central with 12 points in the quarter giving the Thunder a 38-36 advantage going into the fourth.

In that fourth quarter the Thunder hit clutch free throws down the stretch to win it as they went 8-of-10 from the line to wrap up the five-point win.

Kurtis Beck was phenomenal all game long for Nemaha Central (2-0) as he scored a game-high 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the free throw line while Landen Baker added 13 and Zac Kramer 12.

Hiawatha (0-2) in the loss had Gilbert score 19 points while Joel Bryan added nine.