Postseason play opened up at home for Nemaha Valley Raider boys and their first round matchup proved to be a tough one as the Raiders grinded out a 52-47 win over Marysville to move to the semifinals of the 3A Horton sub-state.

Marysville started the game jumping out to a 5-0 early lead and led the entire first quarter leading 12-10 after the frame was in the books as Nemaha Valley struggled to get the offense going but used six points by Caleb Meyer to stay within two points. The Raiders then went on a run in the second quarter and outscored Marysville 14-5 in the period to take a 24-17 lead into the half, as Isaac McWilliams pushed it to that margin with a deep three-pointer at the horn of the first half.

In the second half both teams traded blows back and forth with Nemaha Valley pushing their lead to double figures early in the second half but Marysville answered hitting some three-pointers, eight in the game to cut the lead to five, 41-36 after three quarters of action. The Raiders would hold to that five point lead for the 52-47 win and use some clutch plays down the stretch to gain the win.

Leading the way for the second straight game was Nemaha Valley senior, Justice McKernan who scored 17 points and was 6-8 from the free throw to lead the Raiders to their 19th win of the season. McKernan did most of his damage in the third quarter scoring 11 of his 17 in the quarter helping him earn Community National Bank "Player to Bank On" on KMZA for the second straight game. Meyer chipped in 11 points for the Raiders, while Evan Hermesch tallied eight and Eric Sperfslage scored seven on the night.

Marysville on the night was led by Zach Pieschl who scored 13 points and Brock Watts tallied 12 points, as the Bulldogs fell to 6-15 on the season and saw their year come to an end.

Nemaha Valley with the win moved to 19-2 on the season and will play in the semifinals on Thursday at Horton against the host Chargers (game will be broadcasted on KNZA).