The Nemaha Central and Riley County girls basketball teams stamped their way to a Sub-State Championship game on Saturday with Semi-Final wins on Thursday night in Marysville. 

(4) Riley County 39 vs. (1) ACCHS 36

The Falcons were able to pull the upset in the first game of the night over the top-seed Tigers of ACCHS. 

Riley County got off to a great start by scoring the first seven points of the game but after that it stayed close throughout. 

The Falcons led by one at the end of the first quarter and then led by three at halftime. ACCHS put together their best quarter in the third by outscoring Riley County 13-8 to take a two point lead into the final quarter. 

The Falcons outscored the Tigers 7-2 in the fourth quarter with ACCHS having a shot at the end of the game to potentially send it to overtime that fell short. 

The Falcons improve to 15-7 overall while ACCHS had their season come to an end with a record of 20-2. 

ACCHS posted one of their best seasons in school history and went a perfect 16-0 in league play and won their first NEKL title since 2012. 

(6) Hiawatha 42 vs. (2) Nemaha Central 53

This was the third matchup of the season between the Thunder and Redhawks with Nemaha Central winning the first two during the regular season. 

The Thunder made it 3-0 in 2022-2023 by pulling away with a big second half. The game was tied at 13 at the end of the first quarter with Nemaha Central leading 25-22 at halftime. 

The Thunder opened the third quarter on a 10-1 run and never looked back on their way to the win. 

Ella Larkin led Nemaha Central with 18 points while Addy Holthaus added 13 points. Josie Delaney led Hiawatha with 14 points while Darcy Lierz added 12 points. 

Nemaha Central gets to 20-2 overall with the win and will face Riley County in the Sub-State Championship game in Marysville on Saturday at 5:30 PM. 

Hiawatha ends their season with a record of 13-9 overall.