It was a good Friday night for a pair of home basketball wins for the Nemaha Central Thunder as both the girls and boys posted convincing victories against visiting Holton in a non-league Mid East matchup 

GIRLS = Nemaha Central 56, Holton 28

Nemaha Central held Holton without a point for the first 6:30 and built a 14-0 advantage that turned into an 18-2 lead after one quarter. Holton played better in the second quarter and had couple possessions to try and cut the deficit into single digits but ultimately trailed 25-13 at halftime. Nemaha used a 31-15 second half to pull away and improve to 2-2 on the season. 

The Lady Thunder defense was phenomenal forcing 32 turnovers and many many other deflections. Emma Hermesch led the scoring with 16 points while Bailey Snyder added 14 and Kennedy McKee chipped in 8 with both girls hitting a pair of triples. 

Holton had only three players score until Hannah Watkins knocked in a couple treys in the fourth frame. Lili Tanking led the Lady Cats with 12 points while Stephanie Crawford posted her season best 8 points before Holton dropped to 0-4 on the season. 

BOYS = Nemaha Central 53, Holton 35

Holton had some early energy and took a 7-6 lead on a three-pointer by Devon Terwilliger, but it was all Thunder the rest of the way as Nemaha Central responded with a 9-1 run to close the quarter. The Cats had a difficult time scoring with a total of just 20 points entering the fourth stanza. 

Carter Hajek provided a big spark off the bench and scored 8 of his 10 points in the first half while Nemaha built a 29-14 lead. The Thunder made six three-pointers on the night and they came from six different players. Kalem Schmelzle led NC in scoring with 13 while going 5 of 6 from the foul-line and fellow forward Jack Macke added 8 points as Nemaha Central improved to 3-1 on the season. 

Holton got 11 points from Kerrick DeDonder while Terwilliger scored 9, but no other Wildcat had more than five points and Holton was just 12 of 21 from the charity stripe before falling to 0-4. 

Farmers State Bank Players to Bank On:

Emma Hermesch and Carter Hajek of Nemaha Central.