It will be another all Nemaha County 3A Sub State Championship double header on Saturday in Sabetha after the Nemaha and Sabetha boys survived upset scares to win Friday night and join the girls teams in the finals.

Nemaha Central 43, Maur Hill Mount Academy 41

The Thunder scored the first seven points of the game and led 13-5 after one quarter.  Nemaha Central stretched the lead to nine twice, but could never pull away as the Ravens came back to make it 21-18 at halftime.  Trailing 35-30 entering the fourth quarter, MH-MA got two quick basketsand it stayed tight down the stretch.  Nemaha missed five free throws in the final quarter but got three-point plays from Luke Holthaus and Devin Henry to maintain a lead with under 2:30 to play.  

Tobin Kocour scored 5 of his 12 points in the last frame and hit a free throw but missed his second, before Jake Schmidt grabbed the lose ball and scored with :40 left to tie the game at 41.  Henry, the senior, was clutch hitting a guarded jumper from the left elbow just before time expired and the Thunder improved to 17-5 with a victory in a game they never trailed.  Henry finished with 12 points while Holthaus had 18 and Cody Rottinghaus had 8 big points off the bench.  Nick Caudle scored 18 for MH-MA who ended their season with an 18-4 record and shared the NEK League Title with Jackson Heights this year.  

Sabetha 55, Riverside 51

The Bluejays missed their first five shots from behind the arc but an 8-0 run by Corbin Cox and Alex Kirwan off the bench gave the top seeded Bluejays a 17-7 lead.  Riverside was within 29-21 at halftime and still trailed by 8 points entering the fourth quarter.  Yet, like Nemaha in the earlier game, Sabetha missed five late free throws and shot under 50 percent from the foul line on the night to leave the door open for a comback.  

Alec Miller converted a three-point-play before back-to-back baskets by Jadon LaRue, and Andrae McGaughy's banked in trey at the top of the key pulled Riverside within 51-49 with three minutes to play. Levi Crespo hit a runner down the lane to tie the game at 51 with just over two minutes left and it was all free throws down the stretch.  Calder Keehn hit 1 of 3, Brett Plattner made 1 of 2  with :36 left, and after a missed 1 and 1 by Riverside and another turnovers possession, Kellen Russell sank two free throws to seal the Sabetha win.  Keehn finished with 12 points while Plattner had 11 and Brock Frey 10, including a couple treys and 8 points in his third quarter.  Russell added 9 as Sabetha won their 11th straight and improved to 21-1 on the season with only their fifth victory by less than 10 points.  

Riverside, who had lost to Sabetha by 29 and 16 points earlier this season got 14 points from Grant Shue and 12 each from LaRue and Crespo before ending their season with an 8-14 record while suffering their 7th defeat of the year by less than 6 points.  

The Sabetha and Nemaha girls split their meetings this season while the Sabetha boys beat Nemaha by 8 and 5 points.  The Bluejays and Thunder meet on Saturday night in the Sub-State Championship game with live coverage on KNZA 103.9 FM and online on the Sabetha Channel at www.mscsports.net