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Seven straight state tournament appearances and now Nemaha Valley has seven straight years of finishing fourth or better at state. The Raiders lived at the free throw line and used those free points to beat Holcomb 76-66 in the opening round of the Class 3A State Tournament in Hutchinson on Wednesday.
Just like the sub-state championship game against Sabetha, Nemaha Valley went inside the paint to Caleb Meyer who scored the first seven points for the Raiders. NV held Holcomb to just two field goals and the Raiders ended the first period with an 11-4 lead. The Raiders stretched out the lead to as much as 13 in the second quarter and they went to the locker room up 30-18.
After shooting 24 percent from the field and 13 percent from beyond the three-point arc in the first half, the lid was taken off the rim for Holcomb. The Longhorns made five three pointers in the third quarter to close the gap a bit, trailing 48-39. Three more three pointers in the final quarter brought Holcomb within three points with 6:30 to play. Nemaha Valley responded, held on to the basketball and made clutch free throws down the stretch to hold on for the 10-point win.
NV made 39 of 44 free throws to counter Holcomb’s eight threes in the second half. Senior Caleb Meyer paced the Raiders with 31 points to be the Player to Bank On, sponsored by the Community National Bank in Seneca and Sabetha. Meyer made seven of his eight shots from the field, but even more importantly, Meyer made 17 of his 20 free throws. Those 17 freebies broke a Class 3A state tournament record for most individual free throws made in one game. The previous high was 16 held by NV’s Brad Rettele in 2000. Senior Justice McKernan did his part at the charity stripe, nailing 11 of 12 to finish with 17 points.
For Holcomb, senior Heath Tucker led the Longhorns with 21 points. Junior Trey Sleep chipped in 12 points and sophomore Christian Merz scored 10 points off the bench.
Holcomb’s season ends with a 20-4 record while Nemaha Valley goes to 22-2 on the season and the Raiders take on number two Beloit on Friday at 4:45 pm. Live coverage can be heard on 92.1 FM KMZA and online at mscsports.net.
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