It was another chapter in the storied Big 7 League and Nemaha County rivalry on Tuesday night and ended in a split as the Nemaha Central girls and Sabetha boys avenged losses on January 4th and split the night and season series with their nemesis.  The teams could certainly matchup again this year in the 3A Sub State at Silver Lake. 

GIRLS = Nemaha Central 36, Sabetha 30

Nemaha Central closed the first quarter on a 7-0 run to take an 11-5 lead and despite six straight points by Mary Lukert to tie the game at 11 early in the second quarter, the Thunder never gave up the lead and made just enough free throws in the fourth quarter to win for the 9th time in the past 10 games. 

The visitor missed eight free throws in the fourth quarter and hit only 13 of 22 for the night, but had built the lead to nine points (26-17) entering the final period. Taryn Ganstrom scored 11 points while Ella Larkin added 7 and Addy Holthaus scored 6 despite limited minutes battling foul trouble as NC improved to 12-4 overall and 8-2 in the Big 7. 

Sabetha continued to struggle on the offensive end and missed several high percentage shots and scoring opportunities. Yet, the Jays only connected on 6 of 16 free throws themselves and had only one player score more than four points. Mary Lukert had the six straight in the second quarter then added 8 points in the fourth including a pair of treys to finish with 14. The loss was the fifth straight for Sabetha who is now 6-10 on the year and 5-5 in Big 7 play. 

BOYS = Sabetha 54, Nemaha Central 41

It was a tale of two halves as Nemaha Central led 12-2 after one quarter and was ahead 24-16 at halftime. The Bluejays took their first lead of the night 33-32 on a triple by Matthew Garber with 40 seconds to play in the third period and Davis Rockey added a steal and layup to make it 35-32 Bluejays heading to the fourth. Much like the third, Sabetha would outscore Nemaha and control the game with a 19-9 final stanza to pull away for the win. 

Sabetha outscored Nemaha 38-17 in the second half with Davis Rokey scoring 11 of his 16 points after intermission and Christian McAfee getting all 12 of his points, including 4 of 4 free throws in the second half.  Sabetha made 8 of 9 free throws in the fourth quarter and 8 of 13 for the game with Garber added 10 points and Nohl Niehues having a strong game with 7 points and 9 rebounds. The Jays are now 13-3 overall and 8-2 in Big 7 play with a game at Jeff West on Friday. 

Nemaha Central made only 8 of 23 foul shots and struggled to generate half-court offense in the second half after getting several transition buckets in the first half. Carter Lutz had 11 points awhile Kurtis Beck added 10 and Marcus Beck had 8. The Thunder had won 10 games in a row but are now 14-2 overall and 8-2 in the Big 7 tied with Sabetha and one game back of Royal Valley whom the Thunder host of Friday.

Citizens State Bank and Trust Company of Hiawatha Players to Bank On: 

Taryn Ganstrom of Nemaha and Davis Rokey from Sabetha.