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It was only the second time all season that the Nemaha Valley boys failed to score at least 40 points, and Scott City took a step closer to a third consecutive state 3A Boys Basketball Championship with great defense in a 50-38 victory.
On Friday, at the Hutchinson Sports Arena, Nemaha Valley started strong and went on a 8-0 run to take a 15-7 lead. This was crucial after falling behind 18-3 to Scott City in the State Title game last year after one quarter and eventually losing 61-47. The Raider 17-11 lead quickly vanished in the second quarter as Scott City went on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 17 and later it was knotted at 22 before Trey O’Neil bounced in a three as time expired to put the Beavers ahead 25-22 at the break.
Nemaha Valley would never lead again as they followed a 5 point second quarter with a 7 point third stanza and then went down double-digits 39-29, as Scott City got two easy transition baskets to start the fourth quarter. The Raiders shot only 32 percent for the game and 26 percent in the second half, including 1 of 7 from long range.
Justice McKernan scored 8 early points for NV including back-to-back treys to give the Raiders a 13-7 advantage. He went on to finish with a team high 10 points, while Creighton Brinker added 9 and 14 rebounds but pick up a third foul with 1:50 to play in the first half. Trent Olberding, the only player in school history to compete in four state basketball tournaments, missed his first 8 shots and finished with five points all in the final five minutes of the game on 2 of 13 shooting.
Scott City got 16 points and 10 rebounds from Drew Kite, while Brett and Trey O’Neil combined for 22 points and 10 of 10 free throw shooting. The Beavers hit 45 percent of their shots on the night and improved to 24-1 as they look to capture a three-peat in Hutch against #1 seed and undefeated Humboldt on Saturday night. Humobldt beat Silver Lake 47-35 in the other semifinal.
Nemaha Valley, now 23-2, looks to finish their season with a win for the first time in six consecutive final four appearances at the state tourney. They’ll play Silver Lake at 2:00 PM Saturday live on KNZA 103.9 FM and online at www.mscsports.net
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