It wasn’t pretty, but the Nemaha Central Thunder boys basketball team got a 37-31 sub-state quarterfinal win at home over Marysville to avenge last year’s sub-state championship loss.

The first quarter was low-scoring with Abe Hilbert for Nemaha Central and Will Otott for Marysville getting 80% of the quarter’s total points. Otott had all of the team’s points in the quarter. The Thunder had an 8-7 after eight minutes.

Hilbert kept it up in the second quarter with eight more points to get him to 13 going into the break. Otott was practically all of Marysville’s offense in the second quarter. He had 10 points at the halftime break. Nemaha Central controlled a narrow 18-13 lead at the break.

Marysville came out of the break swinging. They started the half with an 8-2 run to take the lead with 5:20 remaining in the third quarter. Nemaha Central responded with a 7-2 run for the remainder of the quarter, which gave them a 27-25 lead.

The first few minutes provided little offense from both teams. The Bulldogs didn’t get their first points in the quarter until inside the final 90 seconds. Nemaha Central struggled with free throws which kept Marysville in the game. The Bulldogs had struggled mightily all night from three, but they were able to make a few in the final minute of the game. However, it was too little too late and the Thunder were able to survive and advance in an ugly one.

Hilbert led all scorers with 21 points, and he is your Player of the Game brought to you by Farmers State Bank. Trent Thomas was a major contributor as well with nine points. Otott fouled out with 43 seconds left and finished with 20 points. The Bulldogs had just four total scorers, and Nemaha Central only had three.

The Thunder will play at Riley County on Thursday night, and Marysville’s season ends with a record of 10-11.